


Miss Allura's Home for Peculiar Gays

by Chiaxaii



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Implied Sexual Content, Langst, M/M, Major Character Injury, Minor OC - Freeform, Mutual Pining, Pining, Slow Burn, Suicide Attempt, a lot of canon minor characters that are important here, demon things trying to convince lance to kill himself, hunk and shay are already dating, i might kill a few major characters but that is currently undecided, lance and keith are both 19, lance has mental disorders, major injuries and amnesia, maybe shallura or shatt later? idk yet, miss peregrine's au, some rules of the original miss peregrine's universe have changed, talk of self-harm, therapist coran
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2018-09-08 08:04:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 61,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8836834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiaxaii/pseuds/Chiaxaii
Summary: "I want to find these people. No- I need to find them. That wasn't just a dream, Coran, the person in there telling me that I need to help was real." "How do you intend to find these... peculiar people?" "I've had visions of this place."Miss Peregrine's Klance AU.





	1. Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there!  
> This is not the first fanfiction I've written, though it is my first to be published on AO3.  
> It's significantly longer than any others I've written, with my usual chapter length for those being around 1.5-2k words, while this is 7-8k words.  
> That being said, it takes a while to write, so there will only be a new update every 1-2 weeks.  
> If you want to check out my other works, look at my Wattpad. I have several older one-shots on there, as well as an on-going series that is currently on hiatus.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER:  
> -Biphobia  
> -Minor self-harm  
> -Mentions of family death  
> -Panic attacks
> 
> This chapter is one of the angstiest that I have planned. For now. It gets better.
> 
> Now, please enjoy!

  
Lance woke up with a jolt, sitting upright and breathing heavily. His head was muddled, unable to think straight. The sun tore through his window, blinding his mind even more. He put his hand up to his forehead and noticed that he was sweating from his dream- more like a nightmare. Lance had experienced the same nightmare before, however, it still would cause him to wake up in panic, and fear. Apparently, it was a "psychological response to unfortunate events as a child" , according to countless doctors and therapists, who would attempt to help him by spouting nonsense and meaningless pity.

He heard screaming, and two pairs of feet rushing up the stairs. Lance noticed that his throat was burning and his ears were ringing. It was when his mums bolted into the room with panic plastered on their faces, water and medication in hand, that he realised he was the one bellowing. His mums were sputtering countless _Are you okay?_ 's. It was pointless, really. Obviously, his brain fucked up and made him go insane again. Why would he be okay if that happened? People only ask you if you're okay when the blindest bad could see that you aren't.

The screaming stopped.  
  
Four arms wrapped around Lance's tan body, squeezing him tightly. . His mother, Adria, had taken out a pill and popped it into his mouth. Lance's mom, Cassia, was opening a water bottle, handing it to him hurriedly. He took the water and chugged it within a matter of seconds, throat sore from screaming. With the pill and water into his system, he begun to calm down.

"Did you have the nightmare again?" Cassia asked, clenching his warm hands with her cool, pale ones. Lance nodded, not wanting to speak, as something may fly out accidentally and hurt him or his moms. He's hurt too many people close to him, and he is afraid of being close to anyone, although intimacy is what he longs for the most.

"How long have they been happening, again?"

"Since I was in the orphanage," Lance replied, unwilling to speak anymore.

"How many years was it, then? Nine?" Adria questioned. Lance held up ten fingers and after a few seconds of his moms' stares at his hands, he switched the five to one on his left, indicating he was there for eleven years. Lance was exhausted, and although he loved his adoptive parents, he didn't want to deal with them any longer. _Thank you for the medication, but please shut the fuck up because I'm better now. It's not even seven in the morning, and today's fucking Saturday._ Lance thought, flopping back onto his pillow.

His mums seem to get the message when Lance's dark blue eyes locked with theirs, glaring. Adria and Cassia both told their goodbyes- Cassia kissing Lance's forehead, which was still hot- and left. He sighed and closed his eyes, sending a silent prayer to God- if he exists, anyway- to let him go nightmare-free this time. The medication is supposed to stop Lance from dreaming at all, as he usually has nightmares, but there's still a chance they'll reoccur. Willing to let the peaceful darkness consume his entire being, so he can forget about the world for a simple, worthless moment, he fell into the deep sleep for which he was longing.

Dreams are a peculiar thing. They are some of the most unpredictable things in the world, along with television show writers. Some are weird, and you're unable to explain them without you sounding like a crazy, mental person. Some are funny and make you feel a happiness that may be impossible to find in real life. Others are outright depressing, and you find yourself in tears as you wake up. Some are flat-out stupid.

But there are always nightmares, too.

Lance has had the same nightmare ever since he went into an orphanage. He was psychologically scarred, apparently, by what happened to his birth family. They were all dead by the time he was eight. Lance's youngest older brother, with whom he was closest, was the first of the McClain's to be picked off by the unforgiving hands of death. His other brother died next, followed by his two sisters. They didn't all happen at once, of course, but over the span of three years. Lance's parents were killed, although on accident, leaving him alone as a small child, helpless and broken. When Lance got to the orphanage, he would cry often and seclude himself in fear of those close to him dying again. His happy family didn't deserve this, Lance would say to himself, even though it was far from that.

The nightmares began the second night at the orphanage.  
.  
There was fire, everywhere. The corpses of his family were strewn across the ground as if they were broken puppets. The voices of his parents and siblings would taunt him, calling him worthless and the reason they died. Lance was told countless times that what they were saying wasn't true, but if your family tells you something, of course, you'll believe them.

His family wasn't the only thing there, though.

Along with the bodies, there were purple-skinned monsters that surrounded them. Lance knew nothing about these mysterious monsters. All he knew was that he was afraid of them because they were dangerous. Right beside the monsters, there was always this mysterious figure. They were slightly shorter than him, with dark hair and a cold aura. They would talk to Lance in some of the nightmares. The one this past morning, the figure had.

_"This will happen again if you don't try to help us,"_ It said to Lance. The Cuban was confused. He asked the figure why, who is _"us"_ , but never received a reply. Never once did he see the face of this figure.

And it was his mission, Lance had subconsciously decided, to find that person and save them from the same fate of his family.

 

* * *

 

_"LANCE!"_ A voice screeched, rising the said boy from his slumber. He groaned and pulled the covers over his head, not willing to deal with Adria at the moment. It's not that he was tired- he has been awake for about thirty minutes, actually- he just wanted to stay in the comfort of his room. The voice called out to Lance again, and again he didn't reply. Lance wasn't a morning person- at all. So his mother trying to get him up without a perfectly good reason--

_"LANCE! GET DOWN HERE! ELIZABETH 3RD IS CHOKING!"_

Never mind. There was a good reason.

Lance hastily sprung out of his bed, almost knocking over a blue lamp on a small, brown end table by the door in a process. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BABY?!" He cried while half-running, half-tripping down the steps. When he bolted into the kitchen, his panic-stricken mother caught sight of him immediately. She was trying to cough up something, although it sounded as if she was asphyxiating. Elizabeth 3rd is Lance's cat. He calls her his "baby" and treats her better than 99% of humans on this planet. She had gorgeous, long silky white fur that was as bright as a snowflake. Her eyes were the prettiest shade of blue you've ever seen- not too dark, but not too bright, either. If Lance had to choose between killing himself or killing Elizabeth 3rd, he would be out like a light in a heartbeat. Elizabeth 3rd loved him all the same, and would probably kill you if you tried to hurt him.

Lance crouched down and sung a soft lullaby to Elizabeth 3rd, petting her softly on the head. _"Shhhh,"_ He whispered. _"It will be okay soon."_ He continued petting her until she started gagging more than she was before, and pulled his hand out of the way in fear of accidentally hurting her while she was hacking up whatever was in her throat. After a few seconds of staring in trepidation at Elizabeth 3rd, he cast an angry glare at Adria. He stood up slowly and walked over to her, putting his hands on her shoulder's and locking his blue eyes with her brown ones. _"What did you do to her?"_ Lance spat, looking as if he would kill his mother any second now. The smell of burnt bacon replied for her. Lance turned around and saw the plastic, empty bacon box on the floor. It took him less than a second to put the pieces together, and when he resumed his gaze on Adria, he was infuriated. Always remember to never get in the way of a mentally ill person and their cat. It never ends well.

"I-I don't know," Adira replied, shaking. Her small frame was nothing in comparison to Lance's 6-foot build, and he was obviously the alpha wolf in this situation. She knew that she had to give an explanation, as there was another incident in which Adria almost ran over Elizabeth 3rd with her car, claiming not to see the cat. Lance literally slapped her when it happened, and Cassia allowed it. She thought the situation was funny, her small wife getting hurt for almost killing her son's child.

"I was just trying to cook the bacon-"

"Trying is correct," Lance interrupted, annoyed. "Continue."

"Well, I was trying to cook, and I guess I accidentally knocked the box onto the floor, and then I started hearing Elizabeth 3rd trying to cough up something." She explained, nervous. "I tried to calm her down but she tried to hiss and swipe at me, so I called you down to take care of her." Lance nodded, somewhat satisfied with the information, and got down beside Elizabeth 3rd. She let out a few more giant coughs, before the item choking her flew out into a slobbery mess. Lance looked down at the saliva-covered item, and his blue eyes widened.

"You..." Lance started, his breath shaking. His head flung around and the Cuban looked at Adria with a menacing glare. "You _seriously_ led me to believe that my cat was dying when it was only a giant hairball?!" Lance shouted, holding up the slimy hairball. Adria stifled the gag reflex down her throat. Lance didn't want a reply, they both knew that. All he wanted was for Elizabeth 3rd to get away from that deleterious creature. He stomped over to the trash can and threw the hairball away, his cat rubbing at his ankles.

"Come on, Elizabeth," Lance muttered, picking up the purring cat. He fled up the stairs with her in his arms, the milky white fur contrasting with his tan skin. Adria watched him leave and sighed, leaning against a counter. Closing her eyes, she thought about Lance. How unhealthy his obsession with Elizabeth 3rd is, how his nightmares cause him to act like a completely different person, how he didn't have any friends besides Elizabeth 3rd. Lance was extremely close with her, and Adria would often hear him late at nights whispering his issues to his best friend. She wasn't able to hear the conversations well, of course, but she knew they were important, whatever they are. In fact, Adria has heard him crying alone sometimes, his cat meowing in reply to the salty tears. Adria wondered why exactly Elizabeth 3rd had such a huge sentimental value to Lance. All Elizabeth is is a cat, yet he seems to trust her most out of anyone in the world.

"Thinking?" A voice asked, taking Adria out of her thoughts. She turned her head and met eyes with Cassia, her wife. Cassia smiled and walked over to the brunette, pulling her into a small kiss before whispering, "I thought so." Adria nodded and held Cassia tight, tears falling onto her wife's oversized, grey t-shirt. Cassia emitted a small shushing sound and kissed the top of Adria's head, returning the squeeze. After staying in that position for several minutes, the two broke apart. Cassia gave her a look that signalled to follow her onto the couch for a conversation, to which Adria complied.

They sat down on the soft, grey couch, and Cassia set her pale hands on Adria's slightly tanned ones. "What's wrong, my love?" Cassia whispered, her voice soothing. There was deep care in her green eyes, and it was then that Adria questioned for the one millionth time how she ended up getting such an amazing life partner.

"I was thinking about Lance," Adria started, breath slightly shaky. "Why does he love Elizabeth so much? It's unhealthy for him to be so close to a creature that can't even understand him. If he has problems, he should come to us. Maybe that will help us from blowing all our money on a damn therapist." Cassia nodded, waiting for her wife to finish before putting in her thoughts on the subject. "I get that he loves her, but that love is too much. He needs human contact. Lance'll become a shut-in for his entire life if we keep him homeschooled and with that cat all the damn time." She finished.

"Elizabeth 3rd means a lot to Lance. And for people with mental states like him, having something or someone you feel like you can tell anything to is healthy. The 'damn therapist' you were mentioning knows that Lance is keeping stuff from him because humans can betray you and spill all your secrets that you want to keep to yourself. Elizabeth allows him some to rant to that is only going to offer support- in her own cat way- that won't tell the world his secrets." Cassia replied, trying to calm down Adria. She could feel the room heating up, and she wanted the fire to cease before anything bad happens.

"But he shouldn't feel the need to keep anything from us-"

"You know what?" Cassia blurted. "We all have our secrets. I'm keeping things from you. You're keeping things from me. It's a fact that can't be helped. You're never going to know everything about me, and we're never going to know everything about Lance. You should feel proud that your son has found trust in something, even if it isn't human. He feels better when that cat is around, that much is evident. So be appreciative." Adria's eyes widened at her scolding, not used to her arguing. Except, she didn't want to reply. Because she knew Cassia was right.

"Want to know why Lance loves Elizabeth so much?" Cassia asked after a few minutes her voice softening. Adria nodded. "She was a gift from his mum the day his parents left for a business trip. Lance had always wanted a cat, and he finally got one. His parents left him with a babysitter for the week they were gone, and on the way back from the trip, the plane crashed into the mountains. Everyone in that plane died, including Lance's parents. Elizabeth is the last link Lance has to his birth parents. That's why she means so much to him." Cassia explained.

"Ho-How did you find out about that?" Adria softly asked although she figured what the answer was beforehand.

"Lance told me," Cassia replied. "He said to tell you when you were ready. He meant now, I know that." Adria remained quiet, processing this new information. She knew that his parents had died, but she never knew how. _What else is Lance keeping from me about his past?_ Adria wondered. She knew she would never know everything, as Cassia had said, but that doesn't mean she can't be curious. After a few minutes of silence, Adria spoke.

"You know how Lance said he was gay last year?" Cassia jumped a little in her seat, surprised by the sudden question. "Y-Yes," She replied. "What about it?"

"I wonder if he actually is. There's been no proof, and he's practically in love with a woman. Elizabeth." Adria continued. "I mean, I knew I liked girls since I was a child, but I was actually around people often. He just said he was one day, knowing we would accept him. After all, we are both lesbians." Cassia shifted in her seat.

"Sexuality is confusing, you and I both know that. But even if there is no proof, we need to believe him." She said. "At least he identifies as an actual thing. We can be thankful of that."

"What do you mean?"

"He hasn't come out as 'bisexual', 'pansexual', or any of those other fake sexualities. Which is good, I don't want him being confused. All those people who claim to be are just making fun of gays and straights." Cassia told Adria. "It is like a new trend or something, and I hate it."

Adria nodded in agreement. "Me too."

What they didn't know is that Lance was hiding behind the staircase, listening to their conversation. It had all been okay until Adria had brought up the whole bisexuality topic. Lance was, in fact, bisexual. And he knew it. In the orphanage, he had developed a crush on one of the other kids there. The boy was two years older than Lance, and Lance didn't even realise it was a crush at the time. He knew he liked girls as well and could see himself dating either. Lance just said he was gay because he thought it was best to get that part of him out of the way at first before coming out as bisexual. But as their words tore his heart, silent tears fell. The walls were painted blue for a reason.

He couldn't take it. As their conversation carried on, his emotions were bottling up more and more. Lance tried his best to contain a scream- and he did, for a while. But eventually, he was unable to keep his voice contained any longer. Lance let out a large sob, and he knew it was over. His mum turned their heads around at the noise, and they came running over to the stairwell. When they saw him dishevelled on the staircase, they immediately knew what happened. They both knew that Lance had heard.

Both Cassia and Adria just stared at their sobbing child, unsure of what to do. Thoughts were running everywhere throughout all of them, and the tension was unbearing. When Adria was about to say something, Lance interrupted her, his voice barely choking out the words.

"I'm sorry for being confused. Attention-seeking. Fake. Making fun of 'real' gay people. Mental. Myself. And whatever disgusting label you decide to slap onto me." Tears streamed out of Lance's eyes. "I should die, huh? Wow. I thought you'd actually care about me." His mums were shocked, emotions of all kinds flowing through them. "I should have known that I can't ever have a happy family." He turned around and ran up the stairs, slamming his bedroom door.

"Lance wait!" Cassia called, trying her best to conceal her anger. At Lance, at herself. Who did she hate most in this situation? It was hard to tell. She ran up the stairs, Adria falling close behind. Cassia banged on Lance's bedroom door. "Open up!"

_"GO AWAY!"_ Lance screamed. Adria jumped back at how harsh his words were. Cassia, on the other hand, was infuriated.

"LANCE! OPEN THIS GODDAMN DOOR RIGHT NOW!" She yelled, her face reddening. The door was locked, and it didn't seem like it would be opening anytime soon, so Adria went to the bathroom and came back with a bobby pin. Cassia snatched it from her wife and shoved it into the door handle, popping the lock open. She tore the door open and bolted into Lance's room, where her son lay on his bed a lugubrious mess. He sat up and looked at her with his bloodshot blue eyes.

"I can't help it," He whispered. "I can't fucking help it! I'm broken, of course, I'd be confused, too." Lance's anger was clearly showing on his face. Sadness was, too. "I can't change, and I'm not going to. If you have a problem with me then you can send me back to the orphanage." Cassia opened her mouth to speak, but a yell came out instead.

"You know what? Maybe I should! You're fucking insane, Lance! I knew you were crazy, but I didn't know you hated me, too!" She screamed. "Why can't you just be a normal child?"

"Every  _family_ I've ever had has asked me the same thing! I can't help it! No one can stand me! I want to be normal, but I can't wish a schizoaffective disorder away!" He yelled, tears flooding his face. Lance wanted more than to disappear and die at that moment. _Perhaps I should,_ He thought. _No one needs me, anyways._

_Except for that person in my dream._ The other side of Lance told him. _I need to find them._

Adria was angry as well, but sad more than anything. She was questioning whether bisexuality is a real thing and had been for a while, but if Lance says he is, she believes him. Adria didn't want to argue with her wife, though, so she remained silent.

"Don't you get it, Lance? After all we've done for you, you decide to treat us like _this_? I can't believe you!"

"I love you, Cassia!" Lance strained. "I love you, and I can't help what I am, I thought you'd understand that. But if you really don't like me, send me away. I don't want to hurt anyone else." He looked at Adria. "You, too. Kick me out if you want, I don't care, as long as you're happy." Adria couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her gaze drifted onto Cassia, who inhaled deeply and exhaled sharply, attempting to calm herself.

"I guess that's what we'll do, then," Cassia stated bluntly. "Pack your things. Adria," She turned to the said woman. "Call the therapist. You'll drop Lance off with him. He can sort things out on his own." With that, the caring mum that Lance used to know walked out of the room, slamming the door. Adria looked over at Lance, daring to breathe.

"I'm sorry." She apologised, meaning it. Adria walked over to the door and opened it, risking one last glance before shutting it. Lance stared at the door for a few moments before getting up and walking to his closet, pulling out a few duffel bags. He didn't cry- he was too empty to feel it. The tears have drowned his thoughts enough. Lance was silent and thoughtless as he yanked the clothes out of his closet like he just was. He didn't know if this was actually happening, or if he was still dreaming in his bed. Wanting to know the answer, he walked over to his dresser and pulled out a knife. Breathing in deeply, he grazed the knife four times in the area between his wrist and elbow, but not cutting deeply enough to kill him. He had a person to find before that happened. The pain awoke his senses, and Lance confirmed that this was in fact happening. It seemed too painful to be real, but then again he lost his whole family. Lance put the knife back in the sheath and threw it into the bag.

Blue.

Lance realised why it was his favourite colour. Because the colour is him. He hated it as much as he loved it- like how he hated himself. Lance finished packing everything into his bags that belonged to him, and he got an idea. Silently, he walked into Cassia's room and took about ten nail polish colours off of her dresser. He got the rest of his bags and put them into the pockets of a random bag before walking down the stairs, and out of the front door for the last time. The house that was once so welcoming was now throwing him up out of its mouth. And Lance didn't resist it.

He had to get away.

 

* * *

 

"We're here."

Lance opened his eyes and looked out the window. Sure enough, he was at his therapist's office. It wasn't only a therapist- it also was a shelter for people, usually the homeless adults, but kids kicked out could go there, too. Lance took the headphones out of his ears and paused the music on his phone- Heaven by Troye Sivan- and unbuckled his seatbelt. He opened the door and walked to the back, opening the trunk. He got two of his bags out before someone spoke.

"Need some help there, buddy?"

Lance spun around and looked at a man- his therapist- smiling at him. "Hello, Coran," He said, taking Elizabeth 3rd's crate out of the trunk. Coran walked over to him and grabbed the cat crate along with another bag, leaving Lance to carry the other two. They walked inside together, making small talk about Elizabeth, before reaching a hallway lit up by fluorescent lights.

"This is your room," Coran told the Cuban, pointing at room 527. Lance told him his thanks and opened the door which revealed an average-sized room with blue walls. Lance had stayed here several times before, usually between foster homes, and it was established that this room belonged to him. He threw his bags onto the bed, while Coran set the bag and crate down carefully. He shut the door and let Elizabeth out, and she immediately crawled up onto the bed and started kneading the blankets. Lance flopped beside her and ghosted his hands over her coat, eyes closing. "We're safe here," Lance whispered. Elizabeth 3rd meowed, headbutting her owner and settling down on his chest. Coran had begun unpacking Lance's clothes for him. The orange-haired man had heard the basics of what happened and decided it was best for him to rest with his cat. He had been taking all of the shirts out of his bag and hanging them carefully in the closet. Coran bent down to put the jackets away when he saw it- the knife Lance had thrown in earlier.

"Lance," He called, waking up the said Cuban from his slumber. Lance hummed in response, blue eyes still shut. "What should I do with your knife?"

"You can keep it or throw it out, I don't care," Lance told him. "I was feeling like shit and cut myself a few times when I threw it in there 'cause I wasn't thinking. But now that I'm away from the assholes I thought actually loved me I feel okay now I guess."

"How many times?"

"Four slashes on my left arm. Not deep at all. Just wanted to confirm that was all real and not a hallucination again." Lance explained, yawning. Coran nodded and took the knife out, not extremely fazed by this. The two have known each other for years, and Coran knows most everything about him. Of course, there are still some things he doesn't know, but what he does he's understanding. For example, Coran was the first (besides Elizabeth 3rd) that found out Lance was bisexual. He told him that he had a bi friend before, but he lost contact with her. Coran was supportive of him and was the one who encouraged him to come out to his mums- former mums- first. He was a little disappointed when Lance had said he only said he was gay, but accepted that he wanted to work at his own pace.

"Well," Coran said, standing up. "I'm going to go now. Come down when you feel ready. We can have a counselling session later and you can explain what happened. If you feel up to it, of course. I don't you doing anything that you don't feel comfortable with-"

"Sounds great," Lance replied nonchalantly, cutting off his therapist's rambling. Coran nodded and left the room, leaving Lance alone to cope to himself.

Never once did Lance say goodbye to Adria.

 

* * *

 

Lance walked into the dining room silently, not wanting to be questioned by fellow people staying at the shelter part of the therapy office. No one seemed to notice him. At least, until a certain someone called out his name as loud as they possibly could.  
  
"Lance!" A girl yelled. The said person spun around and locked eyes with a certain girl. She was average height with dyed blonde hair and grey eyes. Her name was Ivy, and she was a good friend of Lance's. Specifically, she was Coran's niece, so they saw each other quite often. When the two's eyes met, Ivy smiled and ran over to Lance, pulling him into a hug.

"I'm sorry," She whispered. Lance realised that Ivy had heard what happened. Most likely from Coran- he knew how close they were. At a therapist, you're there because you have problems. There was no point in trying to hide anything from Ivy, the girl had her own special way of knowing things. Obviously, being Coran's niece and practically living at the shelter, she would know about the situation.

"It's okay," Lance replied, still whispering. "If I knew they were going to act that way I would have refused to be adopted by them." They both chuckled a bit knowingly. Ivy was demi-pansexual. The whole reason she lived with Coran was because her own heterosexual, homophobic parents kicked her out. But Ivy didn't give a shit, she hated them anyways.

"Obviously. You aren't that much of a dumbass."

Lance let out an offended gasp and released the hug.

"Are you implying that I am a dumbass?"

"Duh. Well, you may be dumber than I thought, not being able to realise your own stupidity." Ivy smirked, flipping her blonde hair back.

"Whatever you say, babe." Ivy rolled his eyes at his words.

"Don't talk to me, I have a boyfriend." She replied in a fake white girl accent.

"I'll buy you Starbucks and Uggs if you let me~," Lance said in the same accent, a fake flirtatious tone on his tongue. Lance didn't mean it romantically. He thought nothing of the mindless flirting. Unlike Ivy.

Ivy fist bumped the air. "Hell yeah! Hurry up, servant."

"I'm not homophobic but that was racist."

"I'm not homophobic but I want Starbucks."

"I'm not homophobic but I want chicken."

"I'm not homophobic but for one this is getting annoying and two it's the goddamn dining hall. Get yourself some, tiger." Ivy replied, pointing at the kitchen where there was no line due to the others arriving much earlier. Lance nodded and went off to the kitchen to get some chicken to satisfy his craving. When he got the chicken, Lance walked down and exchanged small talk with a few of the people there before sitting down beside Ivy. She was drinking Starbucks- most likely given to her by Coran- and was sitting alone.

"Your favourite tiger is back," Lance said, smiling at the blonde. She returned the gesture. Lance looked back down at the plate and starting eating, devouring two legs before hearing sniffling beside him. He shifted his gaze and focused his eyes on Ivy, who had hot tears running down each of her cheeks. Instantly, Lance took her chin in his hand and wiped them off. "Why are you crying?" Lance asked, concerned. He released Ivy's chin as she shook her head.

"I'm just so happy you're okay," Ivy explained. "I'm not okay, though," Lance told her. "I'm hurting. I just don't want to say anything right now."

"Well, just know that you can always come to me if you need to." Lance nodded.

"I know. I trust you." He replied. "I love you, Ivy. Remember that."

"I know. I love you too, Lance."

However, Lance was unaware of how much she meant.

Someone tapped Lance on the shoulder.

"Um, I hate to interrupt your conversation," Coran says, breaking them up. "But if you want to talk about the whole situation, now is the time." Lance nodded.

"It's fine. We were just about to finish, anyways." Lance told his therapist. Coran cast the two a suspicious glance but shrugged it off. The Cuban stood up and pushed in his chair. Coran started walking and gestured for him to follow, which he did, but not before waving at Ivy. She didn't notice, though, because she was too busy digging into Lance's unfinished chicken.

The two walked down the hallway without sharing any words between them. They both knew some heavy words would soon be exchanged- so they wanted to feel the calm while it lasted, even if only for a moment. Coran stopped in front of the door when he reached it. He sighed, grabbing the doorknob and swivelling his head around to look at Lance with a soft gaze for one last second, then opened the door, inviting the Cuban into his therapy room.

Lance complied to Coran's actions, walking in and briefly glancing at the items around the room. The room was exactly as it has always been- red walls, blue chairs, and miscellaneous pictures dotting the walls and Coran's brown desk. The only difference, however, was the absence of a lamp on his desk that was there the last time Lance attended a session. He sat down on one of the blue chairs, Coran sitting in the other one across from him after shutting the door.  
  
"So," Coran began, shattering the uneasy silence. "Are you ready to begin?" Lance accepting the invitation, nodding and taking a deep breath before beginning.

"I was downstairs with Elizabeth," He started, uneasy despite only speaking a few words to one of the few people he actually trusted. "I was bringing her upstairs, but then I heard my mums talking. I knew I shouldn't have eavesdropped, but I couldn't help it. I was too weak to break away from my selfish desires to listen, and it got me hurt." Lance stopped for a moment, drawing in a breath before elaborating any further.

"It was all going fine. But then- they started questioning me. Cassia saying how she thought I might not have been gay as I had come out as before. I was tempted to go out of hiding and come out as bisexual right then and there. Because, for that small moment, I actually believed they'd accept me. No- for a while, that's what I believed. I was wrong, of course.

"Cassia said how she was glad I hadn't said I was bisexual because bisexuals were just attention-seeking whores that wanted to make fun of gay and straight people. Adria agreed with her. I know she just didn't want to make Cassia mad for going against her biphobic views. She apologised when I was in my room, screaming how I could never have a real family because the universe just happens to fucking hate me. When she said that, the genuine guilt made me understand that she believed me. Or that she wanted to. However, her asshole wife prevented her for explicitly stating so.

"I know I should hate them- both of them. Even Adria, because even if she believed that I was, in fact, a real life bisexual, she still went on Cassia's side and wouldn't give an ounce of input. Cassia started it all. She made me have even more doubts weighing me down. But regardless- I love both of them. They were the first people I actually considered as a stable family. I was wrong. I hate being wrong. Though, that's just how the power above made me, huh?" Lance let out a small laugh, though it was but of happiness. "My entire existence was a mistake."

The room was heavy with silence. Coran was processing all this. Usually, Lance would be crying when a major bad event happened. It seems that sometimes, people become so lacking in happiness that they are void of every other emotion.

"You aren't a mistake, Lance," Coran told him, looking him in the eyes for the first time after entering the room. "People aren't mistakes. People make mistakes, yes, but mistakes don't make people. There are so much more to humans than flaws."

At this, Lance's eyes widened, slightly taken back by Coran's motivational words. Though the words had an impact on him- stronger than he'd like to admit- it was no surprise that Coran would say something like this. He was practically a grandfather to the Cuban, after all. Coran was as wise as a 10,000-year-old man, despite being in his mid-40's. Coran sensed his sudden switch in emotion and a smile took over his face.

"You know I am right, Lance. You know it's true, and I want you to at least acknowledge that you are here for a reason. Someone out here needs you. I can't force you to believe any of this, and I know you can't magically have high self-esteem and love yourself after a few simple words. Love is like art- it takes a while to perfect, but once you do, you feel a lot better about your abilities.

"I'm not telling you to change today. I'm telling you to at least think about your effect on people. Do that for me, okay?" The moustached man asked. Lance nodded, his face blank and his mind in another galaxy. After a few moments of silence clinging to the air, Lance finally made the quiet lose its grip.

"I... I will. But it will take a while. A long time. I've doubted myself forever, Coran. It's not easy to think that I have a place. No matter what you tell me. No matter what Ivy tells me."

"Where do you think I got the advice from?" Coran asked rhetorically. Lance was silent. "I've had my own losses in the game of life, Lance."

The tan boy nodded. "I know."

"You aren't a bad person, Lance. Someone out there needs you. If you were as terrible as you depicted yourself, you wouldn't be alive." Coran said.

"But my mums think I am disgusting. They hate me because I'm myself." Lance replied, clenching his fist at the thought of the two females.

"Some people are just close-minded," Coran told him. "You can't help that."

"I wish they weren't," Lance started, but was unable to finish.

"No one can help that, Lance. If they're going to be ignorant, they're going to be ignorant. That's the disappointing reality."

"But what if they're right?" Lance exclaimed, standing up from his chair. "What if I really should die? What if I really am making fun of them, but am too goddamn stupid to realise it?"

"Lance," Coran said cautiously. "Please, calm down. I want you to do something for me." The Cuban followed his orders and sank back into his chair, whispering a small apology for having a sudden outburst.

"I want you to list five or more things about yourself that _aren't_ negative," Coran explained. Lance drew a breath and his eyes shut. _How am I supposed to do that? I hate everything about me. I'm a bad person. I can't-_

"There are good qualities about you." His words snapped Lance out of his trance. "Name them. They can be as simple as _'I love my cat'_. There, you already have one. Just name four other things you think other people like about you, and, if you can find some, what you like about yourself." The tan-skinned boy nodded uneasily, still not sure as to how well this would work.

"Relax. Just try to think, okay? Being as tall as you are, you should have a big, smart brain." Those two sentences set him to thinking.

After a few minutes of contemplating, Lance began. "Well, like you said, I have a soft side for animals, especially cats. And... I guess that I'm kind of handsome? And a ladies man. If I weren't so fucked up, I bet the girls, and maybe even the guys, would be _all_ over me." He smirked after saying this, imagining a swarm of fangirls and fanboys alike chasing after him, chanting out _'Lance-senpai! I love you~!'_ as loud as they possibly could.

"Also, my puns are amazing," Lance stated. Coran rolled his eyes.

"I may or may not disagree on the last one-" The orange-haired man was interrupted by an angry _'Hey!'_ coming from the other male's mouth. Coran coughed before continuing.

"Anyways, as I was stating, that wasn't so hard, right? There are good qualities about you, Lance, and you can't deny it, considering you literally just said so yourself. Now, young chap, all you need is one more. What else is good about you?" Lance closed his eyes, thinking about what more was good about him, exactly. He was enjoying the moment, he admitted to himself. _It's almost as if I feel... Kind of happy._ Lance thought. _It's a weird feeling. Though... it is kind of nice._

Suddenly, the final answer ringed through his brain.

"I can sing."

The answer actually surprised Coran. Lance has never sung in front of him, and neither Lance or Ivy mentioned his singing before. Noticing how Coran was a little shocked, he decided to elaborate.

"W-Well, at least, that's what my brother said before he... you know." Lance tilted his head down, slightly embarrassed. Coran chuckled.

"If your brother said so, I believe you. He loved you, and I bet he still does, from wherever he's watching." He patted Lance on the back, who brought his head up and locked eyes with Coran once again.

"I miss him, Coran," The teen whispered after being quiet for a few moments. Tears started to build in the corners of his eyes. "I really do. He shouldn't have died. I should have died, instead of him. He was a much better person than me. Sure, he had flaws, but I'm more deserving of his fate."

"You can't change the past, Lance," Coran replied. "And even if you could, if you died in his place, I'm pretty sure he would have said the same thing about you." He finished, his tone soothing. Lance sniffled and wiped the tears from the corners of his deep blue eyes.

"You're right," The Cuban admitted. "But just because he would have wanted to die in my place doesn't mean I would have let him." Coran nodded.

"Of course. I think, everyone, no matter how much they may dislike a family member, would die for them if it came to that." The orange-haired man told him, once again speaking the wise words to calm the air in the room.

"I'd... I'd do the same. For Adria and Cassia. No matter how much they may hate me, they still mean the world to me." Lance told Coran truthfully. "They are still my mums, no matter how biphobic they may be. They raised me. I still love them." Coran smiled, glad Lance was admitting this to himself.

"I know," He replied. There was an awkward silence after this. Coran didn't know whether to close the session or to allow Lance to talk once more- it seemed to him that the teenager had more he wanted to say, lest it is related to what they were conversating or something entirely different. Lance, on the other hand, was still thinking about his mums. I still love them. I shouldn't, but I do. The thought circulated through his brain, the cycle only ending when Coran broke it.

"Lance," He began. "Do you have anything else that you wish to tell me?" That's when the said boy remembered the dream. What that mysterious figure had said. _I need to tell him,_ Lance thought. _Coran may be my only chance to prevent whatever is going to happen to them._

"Yes," He responded. "I do. It's kind of stupid, though. I don't-"

"Tell me," Coran demanded though he wasn't at all harsh. "You know that you need to." Lance nodded and continued.

"Well, it's about my nightmares," Lance began. "You see, I never told you this, but in some nightmares, there is this figure that talks to me. It's always been the monsters who would call me worthless, but last night, it wasn't. In fact, I wasn't called worthless at all."

"So, they complimented you? Gave you good news?" Coran questioned. He knew that it wasn't something happy, yet he couldn't resist asking. It was in his blood to be optimistic. The teenager shook his head, brown locks falling loosely in front of his blue eyes.

"They said something else," Lance explained. "Kind of like a warning. Only it wasn't really a warning. I don't know how to describe it."

"Just tell me what they said, or at least, what you remember of it," Coran instructed. "You do remember it, right?" Lance nodded.

"They said- wait, let me explain the setting first before I tell you what they said." The orange-haired man nodded, allowing the tan boy to give details about his nightmare even though the same one has been reoccurring for several years. The Cuban cleared his chest before continuing.

"There were those purple monsters everywhere. There was also fire, burning mercilessly throughout the neighbourhood we were in. My birth family was all over the scorched ground. Their bodies were bloody and broken. Last night, though, there were a lot more corpses. Over 50, if I had to guess. That's when they talked to me.

"They said _'This will happen again if you don't try to help us,'_ though I have no idea who they meant by _'us'_."

Coran though about this for a moment. He could sense how passionate Lance was about this, and he had a feeling it wasn't because the nightmare was plaguing the teen.

"So? What do you want to do?" Coran asked though he knew the answer.

"I want to find these people. No- I _need_ to find them. That wasn't just a dream, Coran, the person in there telling me that I need to help was _real_." Lance replied, eyes filled with seriousness.

"How do you intend to find these... _peculiar_ people?"

To his surprise, Lance already knew how.

"After I'd have this nightmare, every time I had it, I would have a vision about it if I went to sleep a little after I woke up from it. I remember seeing a lot of trees for miles around, but they were all off of a small dirt path that was hard to see. There was a beach in another vision, and the beach was all the way around it. There was always a compass in the beach visions." The tan boy explained.

"So it's an island?"

"Yeah," Lance sneezed before continuing his explanation of the weird island. "It is. There's a fair amount of people that inhabit it, though the place is a little run-down. Once I was inside a shop. There was merchandise in there, specifically, T-Shirts that said: "Welcome to Garrison Island on it." He finished.

Coran went silent for a moment.

"Garrison Island in Maine?" He asked quietly, his breath shortened. Lance arched his eyebrow in concern.

"Coran, are you okay?" Coran nodded at the question and then shook his head.

"I had a good friend that moved there several years ago. I doubt she's around now, though. I haven't seen her since..." His voice trailed off and he shuddered, remembering a painful memory. Or at least, that's what it looked like to Lance. He snapped his fingers in front of Coran's face to rid him of the trance he was stuck in.

"Nothing," The therapist replied to the unspoken question. "It was nothing, I swear."

Lance drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair.

"So? Can we go there?"

_Silence._

"What do you say Coran, my buddy?" Lance asked once again.

To his relief, Coran nodded.

"I'll set up arrangements," Coran told him. Lance broke out into a huge grin.

"Thank you. Thank you so much, Coran!" He gripped his therapist tightly, grateful for his kindness. The orange-haired man smiled.

"You're welcome, Lance," He replied. "Now, try to prepare yourself. We'll leave in around a week."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for torturing my child but I couldn't help myself.
> 
> Whoops.
> 
> There will be Klance action next chapter. And happy stuff. 
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> ~Chiharu


	2. Visions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You... You're the person in my dreams! The one who asked me to help you!"
> 
> "Who the fuck are you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well this took forever. sorry. 
> 
> it would have been up last tuesday but i got... distracted. aka i started a show and binged it. how predictable.
> 
> it would have been up even sooner but tragedy struck (my internet went out for a week over christmas break)
> 
> but it's up now! i hope you enjoy it! 
> 
> sorry it isn't as long as chapter one.

"Do you need any help?" The voice of a girl asked. Lance turned around to look at her and found Ivy, who was standing in the doorway. He shook his head and went back to packing his bags. Despite only being there for around a week and a half, he had gone through the majority of his stuff.

"I'm fine," He told the blonde girl. "I'm not packing everything anyways. I'll be done in about 15 minutes after I decide what I want to bring." Ivy sighed and walked into his room.

"Lance, you're helpless," She told him as she crouched on the ground beside him. The blonde was only five centimetres shorter than him, though she was taller before he hit a growth spurt about three years ago. Lance chuckled at her comment and continued folding his shirts. He placed a NASA one into his bag and zipped the bag shut.

"Are you finished?" Ivy asked him, and unsurprisingly, he shook his head no.

"Well, you've always been the type to pack your entire life's worth of items for a week trip. I'm not surprised," She continued.

"Correction, _three_  weeks," Lance stated. "It's not that long, you know. Just three weeks away from me, and then you can see me again. You've had me leave for longer, Ivy. Be thankful I won't be gone long."

"I just," The blonde started. "I just don't want to lose you again."

"I'm not leaving you, Ivy. You're going to see me again." He assured her, though Ivy was still uncomfortable.

"I'm going to miss you," Ivy whispered. "I hate being away from you."

"I already told you, Ivy, I'm not leaving you. Geez, you're such a needy satanic plant." She laughed at the use of her nickname back from when they were young teenagers. She was nineteen, only a year older than Lance, but she still wasn't as mature as him. If you could call Lance mature, that is.

"Lance, I want to say something I've been meaning to say for a while, maybe even more than a year," Ivy said a few minutes later, out of nowhere. This surprised Lance a little, seeing as they've never kept secrets from each other for one. Secondly, she was a loud-mouth and always voiced her feelings on things.

"What is it, Ivy?" Lance asked. "You never keep things from me." Ivy shuffled her pale hands awkwardly. Her grey eyes shifted downward, not wanting to receive eye contact with the boy.

"I... I don't know if I should tell you," She replied. "It might ruin our friendship."

Lance cocked his eyebrows. "What do you mean? Nothing could ruin our friendship, I promise." He told her, stopping his packing momentarily to sit over beside her on the bed.

"Well, Lance, we've been friends for so many years, I've honestly lost count. I've grown to know you extremely well, and I think of you as my closest friend. I realised, though, that I wanted us to be more than that." She took a glance at Lance's widening blue eyes before averting them back onto the white carpet that looked grey in the moonlight.

"I thought that maybe if I waited long enough, my feelings would go away. I was wrong, though. My feelings for you only grew stronger, and with you going away again, I felt it was time to tell you." She drew in a breath.

"Lance, I love you."

The room was silent and the air was heavy. The Cuban had no idea how to reply. The last thing he expected at one in the morning, the night before he was to travel 3,000 miles to an island to find a mysterious group of people was a love confession from his best friend of several years. He could sense the change in emotion from the girl beside him. Soon, he heard small hitches of breath coming from the blonde girl beside him. Lance looked at her face and saw tears flowing down her cheeks. He felt guilty that he didn't return his friend's feelings.

"I fucked up, didn't I?" Ivy asked, her voice muffled in her hands.

"It wasn't your fault, Ivy," Lance told her. "You can't help your feelings." The Cuban felt that his words had no power and that he was only making the situation worse. He really wanted to help her and hoped his words made a difference somehow.

"Lance, are we still friends?" Ivy's voice was so filled with pain that it honestly hurt him to listen to. Neither were looking at each other, they weren't prepared for that.

"Yes, of course we are." He said. Ivy still wasn't convinced.

"Why?" She asked, wanting to believe his words but knew better than to trust people who try to comfort her.

"Ivy, we've been friends for years. Just because you like me romantically doesn't give me the excuse to unfriend you. It's a part of life. I'm not that much of an asshole just to abandon you like that." Lance told her. Ivy took in his words for a minute, and she knew that he was right. Lance had been through so much in his life, and Ivy was the closest person that he could consider a friend. He would be broken-hearted if they were to part over something as simple as this. Her grey eyes glided over to Lance's blue ones. When the tan boy saw that their eyes had met, he gave her a smile and took her in for a hug.

"I'll never leave you, no matter what happens, okay?" Lance said to her. The blonde girl nodded against his chest. He kissed the top of Ivy's head softly, knowing it was the most he could for her in this situation. The two split the hug after a moment.

"I'll be back in a few weeks, I promise." He said, no uncertainty in his voice. However, he had just the slightest of doubts. After all, a trip to some island 3,000 miles away to look for some mysterious people to save their lives isn't exactly the safest thing.

"You'll see me again, Ivy."

With that, he left her on his bed and resumed his packing. Ivy fell asleep on Lance's bed, taking in his scent for the final time.

 

* * *

 

When Lance woke up at approximately 08:30, Ivy wasn't in his bed. It seemed that she had just left less than 10 minutes prior, considering the spot where she had slept was still warm. They had slept in the same bed, but on opposite sides, like they sometimes would when they were younger. Lance stepped out of his bed and stretched his arms, the loose grey t-shirt rising slightly over his black leggings.

Lance stepped out of his room, not bothering to get changed as hardly anyone was up and he was wearing a gaff. He walked towards the cafeteria to get breakfast, the soft shuffle of his feet the only sound to be heard in the morning. Lance opened the door and walked straight to the kitchen where blueberry and chocolate chip muffins had been prepared for the kids staying here and the workers just moments before. The tan boy was currently the only one in the cafeteria. Its white walls were like a cage, trapping him inside and secluding him. He felt lonely and he hated it. There was nothing worse than feeling empty in a room meant for lots of people.

Lance finished his blueberry muffin within minutes and thrown the wrapper away. He should go and finish getting prepared for the day and Lance knew this, though he wasn't doing that just yet. Lance sighed and put his hands on his face, worn out from the night before. There was just too much going on at the moment, the confession was the main issue.

_I mean, I know I'm irresistible and all, but that came out of nowhere!_ The Cuban thought to himself. _Though, it was probably bound to happen eventually. I just don't want to upset her._

_All you do is upset people, Lance._ A voice whispered from beside him. He shifted his head ever-so-slightly to look at this person. They were mainly a shadow, though they had a 3-D, human-like shape. Except they were lacking a face. _Don't be stupid._

The voice had no gender, like all the other shadow demons that followed him around. Lance knew they weren't real, but he couldn't stop from believing them, after all, they were right in front of his face. Another shadow demon appeared beside them, with the same monotone voice, though its shape was slightly larger.

_You should die, Lance. Everyone would be happy._ The new figure told him.

"You think I don't fucking know that already?" He scowled, not wanting to deal with them. "I know I should. I know I'm worthless, but I can't just die. I've seen people that need my help, and I'm going to save them."

_You endanger people just by existing._ A third one chimed in, though this one held a knife in its wispy, dark fingers. _If you want everyone you love to be safe, then why don't you kill yourself? It's easy!_ Lance clenched his jaw as the third shadow demon put the knife against the nape of his neck. He stood up and backed away.

"Please leave. I don't have time for you assholes right now. You can torture me later, just go." Lance proclaimed, and with that, the three figures faded. Despite that, he felt like he was being watched. In fact, he had for the past fifteen minutes, though he was scared to turn around. _Don't be stupid, there's nothing there. Even if there is, it's just a hallucination._ Reluctantly, Lance turned around.

And met eyes with the monster from his nightmares.

The tan boy froze, the one hand gripping the table his only support from crashing. The purple beast studied him for a few moments longer as if he was pulling out every last detail about him. Lance couldn't move, hell, he couldn't even convince himself that it was just a figment of his imagination. Because something that terrifying had to be _real_.

As soon as the thought entered Lance's mind, the monster dove at Lance from its place about seven metres away from him. The adrenaline rushed through the Cuban's body and he half-ran, half-stumbled away from the tables, knocking over a few chairs in the process that he didn't bother to pick up. He was too scared to.

The monster edged closer, crawling slowly as if wanting the tan boy to savour his final moment before death. Lance was almost to the door. He kept tripping as he looked behind himself, trying to get to the door. The second his hot hands gripped the cool metal of the door handle, he yanked it open and bolted outside. Lance slammed the door as soon as his body was fully out of the cafeteria, and when he looked back inside, the raging purple monster had disappeared.

Lance heaved and slumped down against the hallway wall, thinking that _there was no way I could have been imagining that_. The panic, the beast, the way it looked as if Lance was its next meal- it all seemed too real to have been a hallucination. But it was stupid to believe that, after all, the only monsters in this world were humans themselves.

Soft footsteps rang through the hallway, snapping Lance out of his warped thoughts. Soon appeared a blonde with messy bed hair, eyes wide and focused on Lance's sunken form. She ran towards him and when they were right in front of each other, their eyes locked. Ivy knew not to ask a stupid question like if he was okay when from his expression it was evident that he was anything but that.

"What happened?"

Lance looked down, unwilling to look her in the eyes any longer.

"Just a crazy hallucination that my mind is deeming real," He replied, mumbling. "It's not that big of a deal."

Ivy sighed. "You're scared, and we both know that doesn't happen often. Please, tell me what happened. It might help-"

"Fuck off, Ivy!" Lance exclaimed, his voice rising suddenly. "I don't want your help. Just leave me alone, okay? I can deal with my mental ass myself."

Ivy froze, a lump formed in her throat. She stood up from the crouching position she was in front of Lance and turned away. Tears stung at the corners of her eyes. The blonde knew that he was just worked up and upset, but hearing the words come directly out of his mouth made her head hurt.

"Okay," Ivy answered, voice merely a whisper. She didn't even wait for Lance to call out a cliche _Ivy, wait!_ She knew that he wouldn't. He wasn't the type to do that when he had his own issues to deal with.

Lance eventually went back to his room. He showered and got dressed, and put his bags beside each other in a corner by the door. Though he was ready to leave for his trip, he felt dead. Lance screwed things up with Ivy right before he was about to leave. He knew she was just concerned, and that she should have minded her own business, but that didn't give him the right to hurt her like that. Lance felt guilty about it. The worst part was that he would have to wait three weeks before he could patch things up with her.

A soft knock sounded on the door. "May I come in?"

It was Coran. He entered without waiting for a reply.

The orange-haired man looked around the room, glancing at everything.

"You're prepared, that's a good thing," Coran said before finally looking at Lance.

"Are you okay, boy? You look... tired," He told Lance. The Cuban shook his head.

"I messed things up with Ivy," He told his therapist. "It was an accident. She had confessed her love to be last night, and I didn't feel the same way, but I told her it was okay and that we were still friends. I don't think she believes me."

"Something else happened, didn't it?" Coran asked, to which Lance replied with a nod.

"This morning when I was alone in the cafeteria, I had major hallucinations. The purple beast from my nightmares was trying to kill me, basically. It seemed too real to be fake, even though I know it is." Lance explained.

"She'll come around. Ivy knows that you didn't mean any harm. In three weeks when we return, you'll be best friends again." The moustached man reassured him.

The two stood in silence for a few moments. Eventually, Coran broke the silence.

"Well, ready to go? Our flight leaves at 10:50 and it's currently 09:43." He said after checking his watch. Lance nodded and grabbed his bags, slinging them over his shoulder. Coran's were already in the cab, as he had hired a driver to take them to the aeroplanes. When they got out to the cab, Coran had put Lance's bags in the trunk as the Cuban sat silently in the back, left seat. When they were about to leave, a blonde girl ran out. Lance rolled down his window for Ivy to say her words before the two left.

"Here," She panted, handing Lance a small gift box wrapped in blue wrapping paper with a silver bow. He took it into his hands and examined it.

"Don't open it until you get onto the island," Ivy instructed. "Goodbye, Lance," She said, smiling sadly at the said boy.

"Goodbye, Ivy," Lance replied, smiling as well. Then he rolled up the window and the cab driver drove off towards the airport, leaving the broken, lonely girl behind.

 

"Are you actually going to wait until we get to the island to open that?" Coran asked as the two were boarding the plane, Lance holding the box in his hand.

"I'm going to try, after all, that's what she wanted," Lance answered. "It's the least I could do."

Coran smiled, sitting into his chair beside Lance who had the window seat.

The next words spoken between them were nothing more than a whisper.

"I need to make everything okay."

 

* * *

 

The aeroplane ride was pretty uneventful. Coran was reading a book and listening to classical music while Lance binge-watched Stranger Things and Game of Thrones the whole time. They had gotten their bags and hailed a cab to the ferry boat that would take them out to Garrison Island.

They both stepped into the cab and sat down, Lance on the left side and Coran on the right. The cab driver was making small talk with Coran, Lance unwilling to jump into the conversation so he turned on his music- a vast playlist consisting of everything from My Chemical Romance to Beyonce. Gasolina played softly in his ears while Lance muttered the lyrics quietly to himself under his breath. He continued doing this until his name was mentioned.

"What about the young lad next to you?" The cab driver had asked. He had a hint of a Scottish accent to his middle-aged voice.

"Oh, Lance?" Coran replied. "He was the main reason we're on this trip. It was his idea," He explained, though the said boy had no idea what their previous conversation was about. Lance clicked his tongue and paused Gasolina. _It was right before the fast part, too._ He thought, internally groaning that he was interrupted during his favourite part of the song.

"What are you talking about?" Lance questioned while removing his blue and white earbuds from his ears. The cab driver's smile was visible through the mirror.

"Oh, about your trip, boy," He replied. "Why did you want to go on it? From Arizona all the way here... It's pretty far." Lance looked at his lap and twiddled his thumbs uncomfortably.

"W-Well, um... I had a dream- well, a nightmare, and multiple- about my... birth family. They're all... gone now..." He answered, voice fading out. Though unnoticeable to him, the cab driver had a thought. He smirked to himself before telling Lance to continue.

"Anyways, in the dream, I saw my family and their corpses. There was a figure there, in the midst of these monsters-"

"What type of monster?"

"I don't know the na-"

"What do they look like?"

"Well, they have sharp, pointed ears. And they were tall. Most of them had armour on. Plus they were a really strange colour-"

"What colour?" The cab driver asked, his grin growing bigger and bigger as if he knows something Lance does not. At his question, Lance got a sickening feeling in his gut. Something was telling him not to say the actual colour but to lie instead. He shook it off as just anxiety.

_He's just curious. I have no right to lie. I'm just imagining things..._

_Right?_

"Well?" The driver asked again, pushing the sunglasses higher up onto his nose. "What was the colour of 'em?"

Reluctantly, Lance replied, "Purple,"

At that, Lance saw how big the smirk on the driver's face was. He froze, a feeling that something was wrong overtaking him. _You're just imagining things,_ Lance scolded himself. _Stop it._ In order to prove his thoughts wrong, he finished his statement from earlier.

"Like I was saying before, the figure in my dreams was saying that something bad would happen to them if I didn't do something. _Them_ as in multiple people, not a non-binary," Lance finished. He regretted it, though he didn't know why.

When the cab pulled up to the ferries, Lance emitted a sigh of relief. The cab driver seemed pleased as Lance and Coran stepped out of the car and got their bags out of the trunk. Lance, still uneasy, walked as fast as he could, wanting to avoid the creepy cab driver. Honestly, what type of cab driver would wear sunglasses when the sky is completely overcast with light grey clouds? On top of that, it was totally unusual to hear someone with a Scottish accent in Maine, no matter how little he knew about the state.

Coran caught up to Lance, who was waiting by the entrance of the place to buy tickets for the ferry. He had been running, Lance noted to himself once he saw his heavy breaths.

"Sorry for going ahead," Lance apologised, feeling bad for making the elder man run so much. Coran shook his head and smiled. "It's okay, buddy. I need to work these old bones out from time to time anyways." Lance sighed and adjusted the bags on his shoulders.

"Well anyways, let's go. I don't want to miss the ferry," Lance told him. "You already bought the tickets beforehand, right?" Coran nodded.

"I just have to show the receipt on my phone," He explained to the younger boy. "Wait here." Lance did as he was told. Coran came back a few minutes later with two tickets in his hands.

"Ready, boy?" Coran asked Lance, smiling. Lance nodded his head, excited to finally be heading to the place in his dreams. The place where he wished with every fibre of his being to save everyone in its residence, even though he knew no one there. It was his mission to find the figure who had spoken to him in his dreams, and he was fired up to do so.

"Let's get going, then."

With those words the two walked off towards the ferry, inching closer and closer to a fate neither of them could have imagined possible.

 

* * *

 

"This is it," Coran told Lance, looking at the hotel. Well, it was more of your typical inn. Coran had gotten a deal to stay there for 3 weeks for $50, costing a total of $950 which wasn't too expensive for spending the night for 19 days. Lance took in the outside of the inn. It was fairly large, being an inn and all. The siding of it was a soft white colour, and it had a grey roof. There were about 5 floors and from the looks of it Lance estimated roughly 15 rooms on each floor. Lance noticed Coran walking inside of the automatic black doors and quickly followed behind him. Coran went up to the employee at the front desk to get the room number and key and Lance decided to look around a little. There was a small dining area where breakfast was probably served and a mini Starbucks right beside it. There was a little lobby where you could sit and watch the weather on the flat screen TV hung up on the wall that was located a few metres to the right of the front desk.

"Lance, I have the room key," Coran told him, snapping the said boy out of his trance. He looked over and found Coran looking over at him twirling the card between his pale fingers.

"Oh, uh- yeah, we can go now," Lance replied. His therapist chuckled and walked over to the lift and pressed the button. The doors opened almost immediately and the two stepped inside. Coran pressed the button for the third floor and the doors shut. When the lift dinged and the doors opened the two stepped outside of it into the hallway. Lance followed behind his therapist as he walked over to door 205. Coran stuck the key card into the slot on the door. The red light on the card slot flickered green and there was a soft click of the door unlocking. Coran twisted the handle and walked inside, Lance following suit behind him.

The room wasn't anything special. It was just like your typical hotel room- a small kitchen as soon as you walked in with a little counter space, a white dishwasher, a small silver sink, a stove, a refrigerator and some cabinets. The walls were a pale yellow and there was white tile in the kitchen area but light brown carpet everywhere else. There was also a small round table in the kitchen area as well. The kitchen branched off openly into the living room. There was a small blue couch behind a brown coffee table with a black TV in front. Behind the living room, there was a sliding glass door that led out to a balcony. From the balcony, you could see a beautiful, wide view of the water surrounding the island.

Lance went into one of the doors in between the kitchen and the living room. It was one of the two bedrooms in their inn room, and he was very thankful to be back on a comfy bed. He plopped his bags down carelessly on the floor and jumped onto the bed's white and baby blue covers. Lance closed his eyes and smiled to himself. _I'm actually here,_ He thought. _I get to save people!_

There was a knock on the door even though Lance had left it open. Coran entered the room and sat down on the bed beside the Cuban boy.

"Are you happy to be here?" He asked, to which Lance replied with a nod.

"Yeah," He opened his dark blue eyes and stared up at the ceiling. "I really want to be of use, you know? Maybe now I can prove my worth to people. I just hope I don't make the situation worse."

"You've already proved your worth, Lance," Coran replied. "You handled the situation as best as you could and didn't do anything too rash. That's only recently, too."

"But I never felt like I've proven it," He continued. "I want to feel like I did. That's why we're here."

"We're going to save those people in your dreams, I promise."

"No," Lance firmly stated. "I'm doing it alone. If I have your help I won't feel like I did. Nothing against you, obviously," Lance rushed saying the last part, not wanting to hurt the older man's feelings. The other simply chuckled.

"You were always that way, ever since I met you." Lance felt pressure on the bed being lifted and knew that Coran had stood up. "When are you going to go looking for them?" He asked. Lance expected the question just not at that moment, so he would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised when Coran asked him that.

"Tomorrow around noon probably," Lance replied after a minute of silence. "But for now I just want to eat and get some sleep. It's past 18:00, after all."

"Do you want me to just order a pizza and have it delivered here?" Coran asked the hungry boy.

"Yeah, that sounds great!"

"What type of pizza? Pepperoni, cheese, Mexican-"

"Are you being serious?" Lance jumped up, feeling slightly offended at his elder's words. Coran shook his head.

"That was really racist, wasn't it?" He replied with a sigh.

"Obviously."

"Well, anyways," Coran said slightly cautious. "What kind do you want?"

"Pepperoni is good," Lance told Coran, the joke fading off of him.

The orange-haired man walked out of Lance's room and shut the door softly. He shut his eyes once again and drifted off into a light sleep.

 

* * *

 

Lance walked down the sidewalk, straying away from the inn. He looked left and right and every so often behind himself. It was 12:19 and Lance had been walking around for roughly ten minutes. He was looking for a place where he could find help to get to his destination, wherever it is. He had no idea where the people he was supposed to save could be, much less how to find them. Lance just went with his instincts and deciding to go with the flow, just walk around until something happens or someone tries to help him.

With that in mind, Lance continued on his quest to find the mysterious people. After roughly 20 more minutes of doing nothing but walking and letting Dodie Clark's soothing voice and music go through his ears softly, Lance spotted someone. This person looked around his age, maybe slightly younger. They were sitting beside the corner of a run-down shop in the shade. They had a small black jacket on and headphones as well. There was a coloured pencil box laid out beside them and a sketchbook rested on their lap as they drew. They had short black hair that barely covered the bottom of their pale ears. Their locks were blowing in the slight breeze, and when they looked up and caught that Lance had been watching them draw for a few minutes Lance noticed that they had light blue eyes.

_Watching._ Lance had been unaware that he was staring at this mysterious person for some time now, and the latter just noticed and gave him a smile. "I don't usually see people around here," They said to him. Lance didn't reply, he was unsure of what to say.

"It's pretty far away from where people usually go," They continued. "So I prefer to draw here where it's quiet. No one ever notices me so no one ever minds. Except for you, that is."

"I- Um," Lance stuttered, not knowing what to say. "I'm just staying on the island for three weeks. Not forever." He didn't know why he had told this mysterious person that, but he did nevertheless.

"Why are you here?" They asked, setting their sketchbook down to the side. "This island isn't exactly the most touristy place."

"Well, it's kind of stupid-"

"Go on," They reassured. "I've heard a lot of dumb things in my years and I'm pretty sure that what you're about to say isn't one of them."

Lance swallowed. He liked this person. They had a calm, soothing aura, but it wasn't the kind that made you feel like you had to tell everything to them. It wasn't motherly, either.

"I've had these dreams for years, and in most of those dreams- well, they were more like nightmares- there was this person surrounded by monsters. I've had a dark past and it's caused some... unfortunate things to happen to me. In my most recent of that dream, the person said that something would happen to them if I didn't help. Them as in multiple people."

"So you're searching for an unknown person who haunts your dreams and you have no idea where they are besides on this island, I assume?"

"You're correct," Lance replied. "And I need help finding them. I'm not asking you to help me, just for some information if you have any."

"Well, there's this abandoned house in the woods about 5 kilometres from here. There was an... incident about 30 years ago there and no one has dared to go there. At least, that's what the legends say." They answered.

"What type of incident?" Lance asked, but the reply he received didn't answer his question.

"The incident did actually happen, though it was unknown what happened to the people that were there at the time. There's a possibility that there are still some people around that area. Most people, however, say it's foolish to believe anyone is still there at all. But from my experiences, I like to believe that anything is possible." They said. Lance nodded.

"So there's a chance I might find what I'm looking for there?" He asked.

"Yes, though it's about 50/50. Either they're there or they're not."

"Where's the entrance to this thing?"

The person pointed to the left. "Walk down that way for about a kilometre and there should be a dirt path. Head in there and walk about 5 kilometres and you will find the house." They answered. "It might not be what you're looking for, though I promise it's there."

Lance smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much!" He turned around and started walking in the direction of the path. After about 10 steps he turned around again.

"Hey, I never got your-"

_Name._

The person, along with the sketchbook and coloured pencils, had disappeared. Lance decided to ignore it and continue his quest to find the house.

After about a kilometre, like the person had said, Lance came across a dirt road. The sidewalk was cracked and weeds grew through each opening and dotted the street. Inhaling a deep breath, Lance turned to the right and walked into the dark forest.

It was eerily quiet, despite being such a vast forest. There were no calls of birds or any other signs of life besides the soft rustling of the trees in the wind. Lance found it unusual as it was in the middle of the day. There were so many trees that it was about as dark as it would be at sunrise, hardly any light filtered through the thick branches. It had only just turned autumn, therefore the temperature only required a light jacket. Though the forest didn't feel cold, the odd atmosphere of the place gave Lance the chills.

Nevertheless, he walked through the path and never looked back. Not because he was brave, it was quite the opposite. He was scared, terrified even, that something was behind him and one look back would send him straight to hell. That would be the only straight thing he'd ever do. Ever since he entered the forest he had a strong feeling that he was being stalked, and he wasn't about to find out.

Suddenly a bush rattled and startled Lance, but all he saw was an innocent-looking mouse darting across the path on which Lance walked. He concluded a snake was after it and thought nothing of it for he had met several human snakes in his lifetime. An actual reptile wouldn't be any worse than them, hell, an actual snake could be better than those assholes.

_At least that shows that this forest isn't completely dead,_ Lance thought. _Because otherwise, it would seem like a stereotypical shitty horror movie and I am the stupid protagonist. And I'm smart and handsome, so obviously-_

Lance never got to finish that thought.

Why?

He heard a growl behind him and broke the one rule he had set for himself the entire walk down the path-

_Don't look behind you._

Out of fear, Lance swung his head back. His blue eyes widened when they locked with piercing yellow ones. He froze in shock but quickly snapped out of it when it started to edge towards him. It was the same hallucinated monster that had appeared in the cafeteria, the one that seemed real. But out here, it seemed to fit in even better. It was real enough that if you reached out it would kill you. And that isn't what Lance wants, not right now. Though it does seem that it would happen if he just stood there and did nothing.

So he ran.

Lance took off running down the path, the thing bolting behind him. The path seemed to only make it easier for the monster to run, though, so the Cuban boy had an idea. It seemed stupid, and even more so dangerous, but he went through with it. Lance figured it was the only chance he had to escape the monster.

So without a moment of hesitation, Lance sharply turned left and ran straight off of the path. He braved a look behind himself and saw that the monster seemed confused for a second, then caught his scent. Lance barely saw it turning towards him before he turned his focus back to the direction in which he was running. He could hear the monster's footsteps cracking the branches on the ground effortlessly as it chased after him. There was an arch in front of him, and from whatever wasn't covered in long dangling vines that fell down to the ground you could see rust. It looked like it could fall down any moment. His instinct told him to run through it, so Lance did. The vines that whipped against his face were thornless and hardly scratched him. The monster let out a cry as it appeared it had reached the arch, too, only it couldn't get through it.

Lance screamed. He didn't know why he did. All he knew was that there was something chasing him and it was terrifying and there was a chance of someone being out there to help him, even though it was extremely small.

Though it seemed that luck was on his side today when he crashed right into someone of a slightly shorter stature.

Lance was shocked as the person bumped right past him, letting out an order of "Stay back!" as it ran towards the monster.

He was even more shocked when the person pulled a knife out of their back pocket and it _lit on fire._

The new person and seemingly Lance's saviour slashed at the monster with their flaming knife- well, sword, as it seemed to have grown from the fire lighting it- in their left hand, and regular fire shooting out of their right. They used the sword to slash a gash in the monster's right arm (if that's what it is, for Lance didn't know what to call it but figured that was the closest thing) and distract the monster. The monster cried out at the impact and turned all its focus onto the arm, gripping it with its opposite hand. With the monster's gaze all on its arm, its opponent used the opportunity to use their fire power to form a stake-shape and stab the monster through the heart. The monster, realising its mistake, let out a final yell as it turned a bright white and then disappeared.

Lance watched in disbelief as the flame fighter panted and the fire stake disappeared while the knife shrunk back into its original form. They turned around and looked down and looked Lance straight in the eye.

He had no idea what to do. The intense gaze from this- pyromaniac- filled him with a strong emotion. Lance had no idea what it should be called, so he decided to take it out in anger.

"Hey!" He exclaimed. "I was taking care of that thing perfectly fine on my own, you know!" The person rolled their eyes.

"As if," They said. Their voice sounded masculine, but Lance knew better than to judge someone's gender based on that alone. "You were literally screaming for someone to help you. You didn't even try to fight back! How did you even get in here, anyway? No one has come into this loop for decades!"

"Okay, fine, I was defenceless, but I have no idea how to fight that thing! I've only seen it in my dreams, and once when it tried to attack me before, but-"

"Stop. Just, stop." They told him. "How do you not know how to fight them? They're a big threat to those of our kind!"

"Our kind? What do you mean by that? I'm a human, in case you haven't noticed-"

"Look, I don't know who you are or where you came from, but it's obvious that your human. I am too, but I can't believe you're stupid enough not to realise what you are!"

"What do you mean, 'What you are'! I'm mental, I have nightmares about my parents, I have hallucinations about those _things_ \- hell, I'm probably hallucinating about you right now!"

"Wait," They said, their voice dropping quieter. "Hallucinations? About those monsters?"

"Yeah-"

"Do they appear as shadows?" They asked, persisting. Lance was confused.

"No- well, some do, but they're human-shaped. Just shadows. But those are purple, and they have bright yellow eyes." He explained. Their eyes widened.

"I..." They whispered. "I only see shadows, and so does everybody else."

"What...? Who're these other people?" Lance asked, his skin itching. _Is this really what I've been looking for?_

"Who are you, where did you come from, how did you get here? And how did you know to come here? I need answers. Now," They demanded. Lance took that moment to fully observe their looks. They had black shoulder-length hair that formed a mullet, and purple eyes that stood out on their pale skin. They wore a red crop jacket over their grey shirt and they had black pants that tucked into their white and red boots.

And that was when Lance's brain clicked.

"You... You're the person in my dreams! The one who asked me to help you!" He exclaimed, shocked. _I can't believe I actually found them!_ "I came to this island to look for you, as I saw it in my dreams. You told me to help you and some other people, though you specifically worded it as 'us',"

Their head tilted in confusion. "I have no memory of that. Though, it's obvious you aren't lying," The walked closer to Lance, eyes never breaking off of his.

"There are some people around this area, and there have been rumours of an unknown person coming to help us even though there haven't been any problems yet. So my question is,"

"Who the fuck are you?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh. im so bad at writing straight, intense, and emotional scenes.
> 
> i make myself cringe.
> 
> seriously though, can i get to the part where they make out already?
> 
> (ps- if you got offended by the pizza joke know that i wasnt trying to be racist i just wanted to put in a little humour. just dont comment and hate on me for it. that would be really immature. so if you're offended make like mcr and blast away)
> 
> until next time!


	3. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm Lance McClain."
> 
> "I'm Keith Kogane."
> 
> "I'm Allura and I run the time loop."
> 
> "I'm Pidge and I like memes and space."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DEATH SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 5 OF SDR2/SUPER DANGANRONPA 2!!!  
> but only a little 
> 
> note-  
> you have never known true failure until you accidentally paste the 9k word chapter while editing in the middle of the 9k word chapter and the undo button wont work
> 
> aND MY LAPTOP WAS BEING A BITCH AND WOULDNT. FUCKING. LOAD AO3 SO THIS CHAPTER IS UNEDITED IM SORRY
> 
> ANYWAYS  
> SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO GET OUT  
> I WAS BUSY AND UNMOTIVATED A LITTLE  
> IF YOU WANT ME TO UPDATE MORE PLS PLS PLS GIVE ME KUDOS AND COMMENTS!!! EVEN SHORT ONES ARE OK AS LONG AS YOU ARENT ASKING WHEN THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE RELEASED!!!!
> 
> so in apology i wrote a 9k word chapter even though it was only supposed to be 7.5-8k words but i got carried away @ 4 am
> 
> so i hope you enjoy it

"Who the fuck are you?"

Now, isn't that just the most polite thing to say to someone you just met? Obviously it isn't. Lance felt slightly offended that the stranger was being that rude to him. Sure, they saved his life, but that isn't what he wanted to hear.

"Can't you be a little more nice about that?" Lance asked, his voice shaking slightly as he tried to swallow down his anger. The other just looked at him with a confused frown.

"What are you talking about?" They replied.

"You literally just asked who I was, and that's perfectly fine, don't get me wrong. But wording it like that? You sound like an asshole. I thought you would be more accepting of me!"

"What do you mean, more accepting? We literally just met!" They shouted. "Honestly, what is your deal?"

"What is my deal? You're the one talking like a jerk!" Lance replied. His voice was becoming louder every second.

"I'm sorry okay? Geez, calm down-" They said, groaning a bit.

"Now, reword the question. And be nice about it this time, mullet head!" Lance demanded, crossing his arms. The said ravenette clenched their fists.

"'Mullet head'? You tell me to be nice and then make fun of me? That's really hypocritical, you little-"

"Remember," Lance interrupted the other's cursing. "Be nice when you rephrase the question!" The black-haired stranger rolled their eyes, but submitted to Lance's request.

"Fine, I will 'be nice', as you call it. Don't interrupt me though, I hate people who interrupt me."

"Don't you already hate me though?" Lance asked. At this, their eyes darkened.

"This doesn't even get close enough to rival the amount of hatred I have for some people," They muttered, and quickly cleared their throat to try to cover that up. They hoped that the tan boy didn't hear him, and he wasn't willing to find out.

"Look, despite how it may appear, I actually hate starting on the wrong foot with people. I didn't mean to come across as rude as it may have seemed. We literally met five minutes ago, and I honestly don't know what the hell you're here for, but I don't want us to hate each other forever because of the bad first impression you made." They said. Lance admits that he was surprised by the sheer honesty of the stranger, but he was stubborn. So he decided to cover up his thoughts by making a remark.

"You made a bad first impression too, you know." Lance said. "At least acknowledge it or it won't seem like an honest apology." The black-haired person rolled their eyes at his statement, but decided that if it made him shut up than it was worth it, no matter how stubborn they wanted to be about it.

"Okay, I don't want us to hate each other because of our bad first impressions. You don't even realise what you are, yet you could be one of our greatest assets if those things ever end up finding us and hunting us down. I'm probably confusing you, I know, but if you come with me you could help us in the future. If you are what I think you are, I have no reason to reject you being here. Hell, if you came at this point in time it was definitely for a reason. So, random mysterious idiot, who are you?" They finished saying. Lance ignored the fact that the person had called him an idiot. He figured that from the way they've been acting so far those would be some of the nicest words they would ever say to him.

"I'm Lance, nineteen and from Arizona. People call me mental, and honestly I think they’re right. I mean, what kind of sane person would imagine all this?” He asked.

“After all my effort I made of apologising you treat me like I’m not even real? Honestly, I know this must be hard to believe but if you can’t handle this I doubt you’d be able to handle meeting all the others.” They exclaimed though they were more annoyed than angry.

“I can’t trust myself, okay? You have no idea what I’ve been through, mullet-head, so it’s only natural for me to have trouble believing this.” Lance responded. “Prove to me that you’re real. I don’t care how, but until you do I don’t believe you.”

An idea popped into their head. “I can prove it anyway I want to?” They asked innocently.

“Yeah,” Lance replied. “That’s what I said. Or are you even dumber than I thought-”

A sudden _smacking_ sound broke him out of his thoughts. His blue eyes met with their purple ones. Their hand was still up from where they had slapped Lance. Then, the Cuban boy starting laughing.

“That didn’t even hurt! You’re so weak-”

“Are you sure about that?” They asked.

“Quoting a meme now of all times? I appreciate that you know what they are, but-” His words were interrupted by his yelp when the area on his face that was slapped that was once painless started to burn. It only stung a little at first- for the first second, maybe- but then it felt like his face was literally on fire. Like someone had pressed fire onto his cheek and left it on there. Lance continued to cry out as the heat intensified and the other watched him with a smirk.

Literal tears started forming in his eyes. “Please… stop…” At his request, the ravenette snapped their fingers and the pain disappeared from Lance so quickly it was hard to imagine that it was ever there in the first place. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and switched to the front camera to examine his face. There was no burn mark where it felt like it had been, only a few pink marks from the handprint that would disappear in a few moments.

“There’s no burn mark there!” He exclaimed. “There’s no proof! You- You aren’t real!”

“Are you fucking kidding me Lance?” They screamed. “I literally was stretching your limits and not stopping the pain until I knew you wouldn’t be able to take it anymore and you think that wasn’t real because there was no _burn mark?_ ”

“There’s no scar evidence of it so I was probably imagining it!”

“Oh my _God_ , Lance, if I actually did leave a burn mark as proof of my existence you would have complained about me ruining your pretty face!” They responded.

It was silent for a minute before Lance finally thought of a response.

“You…” He stared for several more seconds in disbelief.

“You think I’m pretty?”

It was silent, minus the occasional bird call or rustling of leaves in the wind. Lance was smiling widely in wait for a response. Eventually he received one.

“I never said that _I_ thought that. I was just saying that you would probably call your face pretty or something or…” They hid their face in their hands and Lance could tell that they were embarrassed. Whether it was from stuttering their reply or admitting they liked his looks- which Lance had to admit were really amazing and irresistible- he had no idea.

“Well, now that I’ve introduced myself,” Lance spoke after a minute of awkward silence. “It’s time for you to tell me about yourself! What gender you are because I don’t like making assumptions and misgendering someone, your age, how the hell you do that weird but cool fire stuff-”

“Literally all you told me was your name, age, and where you were from. That hardly counts as an introduction from what you’re demanding from me.” They replied with a slightly amused voice. “Pretty hypocritical, but I guess I can afford to waste time learning about you. There’s nothing to do at the house except the normal boring stuff.”

Lance arched an eyebrow. “What house?”

“Give me more intel about yourself and I might just answer.” They told him, smirking.

 _Playing hard-to-get? I like a challenge._ Lance thought.

“Anyways, I’m Lance McClain. I’ve been having those monster hallucination things since I was in the orphanage as a kid after all my family died. I was docked on meds and sent to a therapist that I ended up forming a close bond with over the years. After I was kicked out by my moms I went over to the therapist’s place, which is not only a therapist’s office but a shelter for homeless kids and young adults. I told him about the dreams and we got information and came here. We’re staying for about 3 weeks at a nearby inn.” Lance crossed his arms. “You happy?”

Their face went blank for a few minutes, processing the information. “How did your family die? What do you mean your moms? And-”

“I told you,” Lance said, breaking out an angry scowl. “I’d give you the intel as to why I came here. Not my personal life. We just met and I don't trust you enough yet, okay?”

They nodded. “I get where you’re coming from. Fair enough,” They shifted their position and leaned up against a tree.

“My name’s Keith Kogane. I’m a guy but I honestly find it interesting that you defaulted to not assuming anything. There’s an agender person back at the house and when they find out that you’re like that they’ll be happy.”

“We’re talking about you, not me or any of your friends.” Lance reminded him.

“Well, I- yeah, I guess I could talk about that later.” Keith replied. “Anyways, I’m Keith. I came to the house when I was 19 about 25 years ago. The house is within a magic time loop so although I would be technically 44 if I came out of the loop I would still be and appear to be 19.” Lance gave him a confused look.

“But… according to the year…”

“The year is only a counting system to measure a period of time. It’s all an illusion that humans made up. If I came out of the loop I would still be 19 and I wouldn't have appeared to age when I came out of it to look how I would be at my technical age. At some older time loops when you would exit after a certain amount of time your body would turn to be your technical age, but due to magical advancements it isn't like that anymore.” Keith explained. Lance looked around at the scenery for a few moments before returning his gaze on the other male.

“So all of this is magic?” Lance asked.

“Yeah,” Keith answered. “Everyone here at the house has a magical ability. We call them the Gifted. The Gifted inherit their magical abilities from older family members though it usually skips a few generations. Never two in a row. Most people don't even know that they’re Gifted and find out by accident, or sometimes never at all.”

“What happens when they never find out?” The Cuban boy answered.

“They’re either killed, become some type of sorcerer or witch, or cause mass destruction and become criminals.”

“Oh,”

They looked at each other in awkward silence. Well, it was more of shift between staring at the ground and the trees.

“What about this _house_? Where is it?”

Seemingly thankful for the silence being broken, Keith sighed and walked closer to Lance. They were close enough to be able to push each other if the apocalypse suddenly started to use the latter as a sacrifice.

“Follow me,” Keith commanded. Lance nodded though he knew Keith couldn’t see him. He must have sensed his nod with his magical spidey-senses because Keith started walking after he did so.

They walked in silence, each consumed with their own thoughts. Eventually, AKA about 10 minutes later, Lance spotted a house in the clearing behind trees. When they got closer he could see that it was a 3-storey brick house that looked like it belonged to a rich person in the 1800’s. Well, it did design-wise, but it was freshly kept up and looked brand new. It had a tall bronze gate and a brick wall that it was connected to. The wall stretched around the entire property that he could see, though it was mainly hidden by the dark trees. The house was illuminated by a mixture of colours that filled the sky, brilliant pinks, oranges, and blues. The sight was absolutely breathtaking. Lance hadn’t even realised that he had stopped walking to gape at the sky. He’s always been obsessed with the stars in the night sky, but this was different. He couldn’t tell you which he preferred, because both were so different and gorgeous.

Keith watched the boy who stared at the sky with a small smile on his face. His tan skin glowed bronze and his blue eyes sparkled. Keith wasn’t willing to break his trance as he admired how innocent he looked in this light. At the back of his mind, Keith was thinking about how cute Lance looked at the moment in his vulnerable state. Not wanting to be caught staring, he shut off his thoughts and cleared his throat.

“Come on, Lance,” Keith said, putting his hand a few centimetres away from a scanner on the gate and lighting a flame. The bronze doors opened slowly. “You need to meet the others.”

Lance looked at him and gave him a small smile before jogging over to catch up with the black-haired boy.

“The sky is beautiful,” Lance told him, his voice sounding like a ten year-old girl in love with Jacob Saggytits. “Honestly I don't even know what's better- the night sky or the evening sky.”

“Both are beautiful,” Keith agreed. “But I think I like the night sky better. The stars standing out against the darkness calms me down.”

“Yeah, but the evening sky looks like it's been painted by the aesthetic master.”

“Who’s the aesthetic master?” Lance shrugged at the question.

“Who knows,”

As they walked through the gate, Keith thought, _Maybe he isn’t so bad, after all._

There were a few people outside tending to bushes filled with flowers. They looked over at the two of them and Lance saw that they were both girls. He winked and snapped finger guns at them to try to lighten their confused expressions.

“Keith?” The one with ear-length brown hair asked. “Is this a new person?”

“Yeah,” He replied. “I found him in the woods being chased by a small galra. He’s an idiot though and isn't even aware of his gifts.”

“We haven’t had a new arrival in such a long time,” The girl with blonde pigtails muttered.

“Are you bringing him to Allura?” The first girl asked.

“Yeah. If he’s who the rumours are talking about she’ll need to hear of this immediately.”

“You should probably hurry in, then,” The blonde one said. “Don’t let us keep you here any longer. You know how she gets all ‘mom mode’ and scolds you if you don't hurry with stuff.”

Keith nodded and walked onto the porch, Lance following suit. One glance back allowed him to see the brunette one sticking her hands out and a pink flower bud blossoming in front of her. Keith opened the brown door that looked almost black in the late evening light. He turned the doorknob and walked into the house. Lance stepped inside after him.

The inside was nice. It had a tall roof with a chandelier and the house was lit up brightly, though Lance saw no signs of artificial lighting.

“Hey Keith,” Lance asked, following him into a hallway. The said boy hummed in response.

“How is this house lit up? I don't see any electricity,”

“Elemental magic. Specifically light magic. One of the Gifted here is a master of it and can control how light or dark a room is by casting a spell. Darkness isn’t a thing, it’s just the absence of the majority of light. So she controls that.”

“Interesting,” Lance said, meaning his words. Sure, all this magic stuff seems unbelievable, but it's cool nevertheless. They slowed down to a halt in front of a door. Keith balled his fist and knocked once. Twice. Once again. Three times. Five times. Then an English-accented voice rang out, slightly muffled behind the door.

“Come in, Keith!”

“How does she know it’s you?” He asked as Keith gripped the knob.

“Everyone has their own set of coded knocks. Allura knows all of them by heart. It’s a 4-sectioned knock and the last section represents the reason why you’re coming in.” Keith replied. This Allura must have heard their conversation because she made no more comments calling them in. Keith twisted the doorknob and walked into a room.

It had black and white wallpapered walls and a giant window towards the back. There was a brown desk in front of the window where a brown-skinned girl with platinum hair pulled back behind her shoulders.

Lance took one look at her and immediately was attracted to her looks.

“Wow, you’re pretty,” He told her. Allura smiled at him in a way that reminded him of his mother’s- well, his old mother. His mom’s smile was more playful. Keith, on the other hand, shot him a glare.

“Keith, who is this?” She asked. “And where did you find him? Also, please sit in that couch, I don’t want your legs hurting. From the looks of it, boy, you’ve been walking a while.”

Lance was amazed how she knew this. He followed her request and sat down on the leather couch beside Keith.

“This is Lance,” He said. “I found him in the woods when I was patrolling outside the loop entry. He was being chased by… a galra.” Allura’s eyes widened.

“A galra?” She asked, her voice nervous yet curious. “That’s… That’s not a good thing. At all, Lance, why didn’t you fight back against it?”

“That’s just the thing, Allura. He didn’t know how to fight it. He has no idea that he’s a Gifted. Lance here is completely clueless.”

“Have you analysed his gift?”

“I’m pretty sure I know, but I want to wait to confirm it. If he actually has it then he wouldn't be able to combat with magic.” Keith explained.

“Lance,” Allura said. The said boy smirked.

“Yes, Princess?” He cooed. Keith groaned.

“Save your terrible flirting for later. We’re trying to get stuff done, you know.”

“Plus,” Allura chimed in. “I’m pretty sure I’m hundreds of years too old for you.”

“Keith said there’s no aging in this time loop thing or whatever. So you’re still like, 20 right?”

Allura sighed. “No, that is only the case for anyone without time magic. I’m a ymbryne, you see. Have you wondered why it’s called a time loop?” Lance nodded.

“I had arrived on this island 30 years ago after an old loop I controlled had been closed up. You’re only able to make time loops when there’s enough magic energy to be able to hold one in the area. Since it wasn’t packed with people, there were multiple places I could have made the loop. However, I found a house back in this forest and decided it would be the best place for a time loop to be. One of the Gifted’s restored the house back into its proper form and another created a protection spell around the house so we could wait until the last possible minute to create it. Creating time loops requires a lot of magic energy and it is quite straining. When one is created it has to border the entire area that the time loop effects and channel enough energy to reset on its own for the first week.” Allura said.

“But why is it called a time loop?”

“Because the day repeats in a cycle and doesn’t stop repeating until the loop is broken.” She answered.

“Couldn’t you have just, I don’t know, told me that without explaining everything?”

“Yes, but wouldn’t it be more fun to hear the details and history?” Allura smiled as she said it. Keith leaned over and whispered into Lance’s ear.

“She’s a time lord, basically. So she’s obsessed with history and magic and the history of magic. All that stuff.” Lance nodded and looked back at Allura.

 _Your stories may be boring, but at least your face isn’t._ He thought.

“Anything else you can do besides that complicated time loop stuff?” The tan boy asked.

“I can turn into a bird,” Allura replied. “Specifically a falcon. It’s nothing compared to the time magic, though-”

“Does it hurt when you transform?”

“No, and it never has except for maybe the first time I transformed. Of course, that was probably in the early 1300’s. Or 1200’s, it’s been so long I forgot honestly.” Lance’s eyes widened in both amazement and wonder.

“You’re thousands of years old?” He asked.

“That’s the point of being a ymbryne,” Keith chimed in. “You’re practically responsible for the changing of times in multiple areas. If a ymbryne isn’t currently running an area they have to either help control the amount of daylight in the different seasons so the mortals don’t flip their lid or enter bird shows.”

“Bird shows?”

“It’s a form of entertainment for mortals. And since ymbrynes can turn into birds, some genius decided that ymbrynes exist simply for the helping of mortals. And then that genius told the Council and they decide to make them slaves for mortals until they can find a time loop to control.” He scowled.

“Council-”

“That’s another story for another time, okay?” Allura interrupted, her smile sweet but her voice bitter. Lance got the idea that he shouldn’t press any further for information about her. He knew quite well that it wouldn’t end on a good note.

“Now, Keith,” The dark-skinned woman shifted her gaze to the said boy as she spoke. “Who are you planning to have completely assess his Gift?”

“I’m planning on doing it myself with Matt giving the directions and Pidge keeping track of what he does.” Keith answered, absentmindedly cleaning underneath his fingernails.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to have them together? They might not not focus on assignment.”

“I know the risks with those two, but I also know that when given something important they can focus for the most part.”

“For the most part?”

“You know I mean that Matt will refrain from his usual friendly chatter and all we have to do is stop Pidge from making bad puns and make sure they actually do their work.”

“Well, I trust that you can keep them in order. You’re the best leader here next to Shiro.” Allura replied. Lance could tell that she was giving a compliment, but he noticed that Keith had bit the inside of his cheek and furrowed his eyebrows as if he was trying to hold back his anger.

“Yeah, of course I am. He’s practically a father to everyone, and I just come across as rude.”

“Keith, you can be a little… harsh at times, but everyone here accepts you and loves you for who you are.”

“Stop being such a mom,” He scowled. “I was just stating the truth.”

“Okay, you come across strong, but you are a great person and a bunch of people here respect you-”

“That’s hardly better, but thanks.” Lance noted to himself that Keith didn’t sound thankful. Keith stood up and started walking to the door.

“Come on Lance, I’m going to introduce you to Matt and Pidge who will be fully assessing your Gift tomorrow along with me. Allura is probably gonna introduce you to everyone and make sure you have a ‘warm welcome’,” He said.

“Am I really that much of a mom-”

“Yes,” Keith answered. Lance stood up and walked towards the door and Keith, but not before finger-gunning at Allura and giving her a wink. He turned around before he could see her reaction but he knew she was either rolling her eyes or going _kya, kya!_ over him in her head. Though it was usually the first one.

Keith was already out in the hallway, waiting for Lance with a bored expression leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. When he finally came out, the pale boy stood straight up again. He started walking through the hallway and Lance followed. They went up a staircase and into a foyer. Lance doesn’t know how he didn’t hear the loud blaring of music from downstairs considering how there is no wall to block out any of the sound, though it was probably magic.

There were walls on every side of the foyer except for the front where the stairs came up to. There was a big leather couch that curved around one and a half walls. There was a big stained glass window that lit up the room and it looked ancient compared to all of the technology on the shelves. On the wall opposite of the couch there was a huge 80-inch flat-screen TV with shelves filled with countless games and numerous game consoles stacked on top of it. Sitting on the couch was a small boy- girl- person, or whatever. They were currently screaming at the anime-style characters on the screen that seemed to be having a debate of some sort.

“ _Oh my god_ how can she be so fucking stupid! I hate whoever decided that making her kill off my precious child! He didn’t fucking deserve this!” They clicked on a dialogue option and the character’s response seemed to anger them even more.

“I don’t fucking care how upset you are Hajime I just want my goddamn bagel child back-”

“I thought Chiaki was your best girl though?” Keith interrupted. “Why are you insulting her now?” Pidge snorted, not even bothering to look his eyes.

“Ibuki has always been my best girl, thank you very much. Chiaki _was_ my second but that hoe killed off Nagito and I am about to fucking sue-”

“Nagito was a psychopathic asshole, though. Plus, she didn’t know he’d die-”

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT MY CHILD YOU COCK SUCKING MOTHERFUCKING TWAT?” Pidge screamed, spinning to face Keith with their cheeks red from anger. “NAGITO WAS JUST-” Their eyes widened with surprise when they finally noticed Lance’s presence. They looked at Lance, then Keith, then back at Lance and back at Keith and then glancing back and forth between the two rapidly for a few seconds before finally settling on Keith with a smirk.

“So,” They said, wiggling their eyebrows. “Who’s the new boyfriend? How long have you two been together? Have you _gone at it_ yet-”

“PIDGE!” Keith yelled, face reddening slightly. “I literally just met him earlier today! I saved his ass from-”

“From your dick? Please, he probably tops considering how non-existent your dick is.”

“My dick isn’t small-”

“Keith, my boy, your dick is as big as your will to live.”

“As big as my will to die, you mean.”

“Your will to die is as big as the Great Wall of China. It’s physically impossible for that to be true.”

“You’ve never seen it, it could be as big as the Great Wall of China. I could just be concealing it with magic.”

“Magic my ass-”

“You don’t have an ass,”

“Um, hello?” Lance chimed in, waving his hand in between the two whose bodies have grown progressively closer. Not in a sexual way, unlike their conversation, but both were close enough to choke each other if it came down to it (again, not in a sexual way). “I’m here, y’know. Some first impression you got here, I figured it would be a little more nice.”

“Acting nice and fake on your first impression is stupid,” Pidge replied. “Act the way you always do so you can know whether or not people will accept you right off the bat. Tell people who you really are. Keith here, for example-” They gestured at the black-haired male. “Should stop acting so emo all the time and start screaming that he’s gay right off the bat.”

“I’m not gay!” Keith yelled.

“You were when you asked Shiro out,”

“That was nearly two decades ago-”

“We’re in a loop, time doesn’t exist here, you moron.” Pidge swatted their hand to dismiss their short banter. “Anyways, hi, I’m Pidge. I’m agender so they-slash-them pronouns please. I like memes, technology, space, and teasing my friends.”

They leaned towards Lance’s ear and whispered, “I really love all of my friends though, even Keith. Sure he can be an emo brat sometimes but deep down he cares for everyone he feels a connection to. And if you hurt him I will personally whoop your ass, just because I’m short doesn’t mean I can’t damage your mentality because I win at pretty much every single game and nothing leaves a bigger scar than being whooped in Mario Kart by someone that looks like a 12-year old.”

“You aren’t wrong there,” Lance whispered back. “Though I’m sure I could beat you on my first try.”

“If you lose you have to suck Keith’s dick.”

“Deal,”

“Can you two stop whispering,” Keith said unamused. “I don’t want you plotting to blow up the village.” The two snapped up when he spoke, and Pidge got an evil smirk. They pushed their glassed up onto the bridge of their nose.

“Good idea, Keithy boy. The town will reset later anyways so it doesn’t matter,” With a snap of their fingers a screen appeared; it looked sort of like a computer screen except holographic and semi-transparent. Pidge’s fingers flew across a holographic keyboard on the “screen” as they typed in some sort of note about sending someone to steal nukes and blow up the entire town surrounding the island and set up a particle barrier around the house. Saying some sort of command in some type of ancient language, the screen vanished.

“Why do you always insist on typing out all these weird things you think of when you have a photographic memory?” Keith asked.

“It’s fun to use my gift for something other than taking notes or storing information. Plus I prefer looking at shitposts rather than simply remembering them,”

Lance finger-gun dabbed at Pidge. “I can agree on that last statement,” Pidge saw this finger-gun dabbed and immediately liked it, finger-gun dabbing back to Lance. The Cuban boy finger-gun dabbed once again and Keith had to grab both of their shoulder’s to prevent a dab war from happening.

“I can already tell you two will be problematic,”

“Not _problematic_ , Keith. We are a team.”

“The Meme Team,”

“The Meme Team Supreme™,”

They both finger-gun dabbed at each other. The emo mullet simply rolled his eyes. “You don’t even know his name, Pidge,” Keith said. “You should at least wait for him to introduce himself before you become annoying.”

Pidge saluted. “Aye-aye, captain,”

Lance cleared his throat. “I’m Lance, originally from Cuba but came to the US when I was 3. I really like memes as you can already tell, I like watching Netflix for 8 days straight to distract myself from my crippling depression. I didn’t know I was Gifted or whatever it’s called until I was being chased by this monster thing and Keith fought it off.”

“What monster thing?” Pidge asked. The other two were silent.

“A galra,” Keith whispered.

“How could he _not_ know how to fight them?” They slapped Lance’s shoulder. “How have you not been killed yet? Those things are our kind’s worst enemies. You must have a weak scent for them not to be around you so much.”

“Actually, if I wasn’t hallucinating, I saw them in my dreams and in real life about 1-3 times a week.” Lance replied. Pidge’s brown orbs widened.

“You must have a really unique Gift for them to be wary to kill you, then. What is yours?”

“That’s just the thing,” Keith said. “Lance doesn’t know what his Gift is. I’ve talked to Allura and we both have an idea about it but we need to test it tomorrow. I’m asking you to help keep track of his actions and abilities so we can figure out his power and how he should be trained.”

Pidge nodded. “Got it, I figured as much considering that he had no idea how to fight them. Is Shiro giving the orders and helping you plan?”

“Matt is going to via telepathy. If Lance’s Gift is what I think it is, it could be dangerous to confirm. He could be useful, and I want to make sure we have access to immediate backup incase the galra attack.”

“We literally never have backup. The testing is always within the safety of the house borders,” Pidge’s voice quieted. “Just how risky is this test?”

“We’ll be using the pheromones to attract the galra. Allura and I think he has the… the sight.”

It got quiet. Lance was confused, what was this _sight_? How unique is it? Why is it dangerous to test it? Does it have something to do with what Keith was talking about with shadows earlier? He came to help these peculiar people, not put throw them into war.

Why is this being kept from him?

_You’ve only been here for a few hours. Don’t overreact, of course they aren’t going to tell you anything._

_Your very existence is endangering them. You should leave and forget this ever happened before you miss the chance._

_But you’d be abandoning them if you ran. You need to stay and help protect these people. There would be no point in going through all this trouble just to go and leave when you could be a ‘valuable asset’._

_You’re probably just going to fuck everything up again, like usual._

“Lance? Lance? Hello, is anyone home?” There was a loud clap right in front of his tan face and Lance snapped out of his depressing, intrusive thoughts.

“Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking about all of this,” He apologised.

“Don’t worry about it, I know it’s a lot to take in.” Pidge said. The sound of a door opening drew their attention towards it.

Lance turned his head and spotted a person that looked like a carbon copy of Pidge, just about a half a foot taller. They had the same hair, same glasses, same skin tone- hell, if you didn't notice they’re related then you’re blind.

“Hey there,” The new person said and smiled at Lance. “My name’s Matt. I’m Pidge’s older brother and I’ll be going on the mission with you.” Lance smiled back. Matt had a friendly aura about him and you couldn’t help but feel comfortable in his presence.

“Did you hear everything?” Keith asked, his tone more respectful than it usually sounded. Matt nodded.

“I was listening the whole time, I just didn’t want to interrupt the fun you guys seemed to be having.”

“You wouldn’t interrupt anything,” Keith replied. “We weren’t really doing anything besides these two being stupid and going over the plan a little.”

“Come on, I doubt Lance was being stupid. He seems to be a cool person,”

“Thank you! God, someone finally agrees with me-”

“Pidge, on the other hand,” Matt rubbed his hand on his younger sibling’s hair, causing them to emit a growl-like noise. “I can imagine them causing all sorts of problems.”

“You cause more problems,” Pidge grumbled.

“Really? Like what?”

“You started 2 food fights this past year,”

“Weren’t you the one who claimed that time doesn’t exist here?”

Pidge shut up.

Matt cracked a smile. “Anyways, what time do we plan on doing it? Who do you want me to have on immediate dispatch in case we attract the galra?”

“I was planning on discussing the second question with Allura and the other’s at breakfast tomorrow,” Keith answered. “As for the first, we’ll head out around 9 in the morning in about two days. We’ll have to either skip breakfast or ask Allura to move it forward approximately 45 minutes.”

“Hunk shouldn’t be a problem getting him out to make the food, but it’s the others that will probably have an issue. Plus, we’ve never pushed breakfast back.” Pidge chimed in.

“Did you mean yourself when you said _others_?” Matt asked.

“Yes,”

“Well you wouldn’t be tired if you went to bed earlier.”

“Shut the fuck up, old man.”

“Isn’t this place a galra-safe zone, though?” Lance asked. “Why would we worry about them attacking?”

“When one attacked you I was patrolling _outside_ of the loop,” Keith replied.

“It didn’t attack me,”

“Sure it didn’t. Anyways, it’s true the galra can’t get inside the loop. However, we can’t test your Gift inside of the borders. It’s too dangerous.”

“Why would it be-”

“Because,” Pidge answered. “We always assess in the backyard outside the house. But not the actual backyard within the borders, the run-down place where it is now. If we were to test it in the backyard within the loop there’s too high of a risk of destroying a key piece in resetting. The loop wouldn’t be able to reset if that happened, which leaves us prone to more attacks.”

“Are you more afraid of the galra or just lazy?” Matt asked, smirking.

“You know, I really am surprised I haven’t killed you yet.”

“ _Guys_ ,” Keith cleared his throat. “It’s almost time,” At this, the two stopped bickering.

“What for-”

Before the Cuban boy could even finish his question, Keith answered, “The resetting of the loop. It looks cool,”

“Is that seriously all you have to say about it?” Matt’s eyes were gleaming. “It’s beautiful, Keith! You should respect it more!”

“Don’t mind my brother,” Pidge spoke to Lance. “He’s obsessed with nature.”

“Guys,” Keith moaned again. “Come on, Lance needs to see this.”

“You’re right,” Pidge pressed a button and their abandoned game paused. Lance thought that there should be some magic thing that would pause it automatically, but PS4s seemed to be the superior power. “Your boyfriend would enjoy it. I’ve been seeing it for decades and it’s still pretty neat.”

“He’s not my boyfriend-”

“Quit it with the excuses,” With that, Pidge led the group down the staircase.

 

* * *

 

  
“Wow,” Lance muttered breathlessly.

The moon was full and the sky was illuminated by the stars. The grass shimmered in the light and fireflies blinked in the trees. There was a fountain in the centre of the yard and the moon rippled in the water. There were roughly 20 people surrounding the fountain, and not even all that inhabited the house were outside. There was a stone statue of the Greek goddess Tyche- the goddess of luck and fortune- in the middle of it. Shimmering water poured from her cornucopia and hands and a vine twisted around the statue. The fountain looked like it was about to overflow. Several people noticed Lance and whispered to their friends about him. Seeing that, he shifted uncomfortably.

“They don’t mean any harm,” Keith said softly. When Lance looked over, the black-haired male was smiling. His eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight. Lance smiled back at him. “It’s just really rare that we get a new person to join us.”

“How often does that happen?”

“Once every 5 years if you want to be generous,” He replied. Lance wanted to ask more questions, speak more with Keith, but Allura started speaking and everyone went silent.

“Attention, everyone!” She proclaimed. “I’m sure you have noticed that a new friend has joined us today, and if you haven’t, well, now you know.” Lance smiled even more at the indirect mention of him.

“That we will discuss more at breakfast tomorrow, as for now we will show our new friend the resetting ceremony!” Cheers rang throughout the crowd, they seemed just as excited as Lance was. The tan boy felt a pair of eyes on him and he looked to the side, briefly locking eyes with Keith before he quickly turned away his head. Lance thought he saw a slight blush on the pale boy’s face, though it might have simply been the moonlight playing tricks on him. He shook it off and returned his attention to the fountain.

A girl had stepped up- the short-haired brunette that Lance had seen making flowers earlier. Allura smiled at her. “Shay, you may begin.”

Shay, as Allura introduced, stuck out both hands, closed her eyes, and began reciting some sort of ancient chant. As she carried on flowers started blooming on the vine, one by one, and the water seemed to glow even brighter than the moonlight already there. When she finished the chant, the flowers shined almost as bright as the water.

_“Commencer!”_

At Allura’s shout of _begin_ , there was a bright white flash. Lance worried that he wouldn’t be able to see for a few millennia, but he regained his sight when droplets of something wet sprinkled over him. The fountain had emptied and its contents were raining all over the house. After all the water had rained down the fountain was empty. With a _snap_ of Shay’s fingers the water began pouring again. Lance stared at her in awe. Allura smiled at him.

“I’m glad you liked it,” She said. “Though that’s nothing compared to everything else in store here.” Lance believed it. After all, this place _is_ magical. Sure, everything so far had been cool, especially the people and their gifts, but he’s only been here a few hours.

_A few hours._

“Allura, what time is it?” Lance asked. He didn’t have a watch and his phone had died so he figured that the ymbryne would know.

“Five minutes past midnight,” She answered. “You have to leave, don’t you?” Lance nodded reluctantly.

“I really like it, but Coran is probably worried about me.”

 _“Coran?!”_ She exclaimed, her face looking like she saw a ghost.

“Do you know him or something?” Lance questioned. “He’s my psychiatrist,”

Allura, realising what she said, shook her head. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just rang a bell, that’s all.” Lance noted that by her reaction it wasn’t 'nothing', but he really needed to get back and decided not to question farther.

“I’ll accompany him to the loop exit,” Keith offered. The ymbryne nodded at his words. “I’ll meet him there in the morning. That is, you are coming back, right?” The tan boy looked at him and grinned.

“Of course I am! This is the most fun I’ve had in a while!” At the reply, Keith’s gaze got serious.

“Being a Gifted isn’t _just_  'fun', Lance. You’ve got to understand. We have enemies, both human and not. Living is dangerous. Soon, we will encounter an inevitable war,” He gripped Lance’s shoulder. “And I have a feeling that you will be a huge part of it.”

 

* * *

 

After saying goodbye to Allura, Matt, and Pidge, both Keith and Lance set off. Unlike the house under the open sky, it was very difficult to see in the forest without any light. The moon just barely slipped through the trees and even that wasn’t enough to light their path. Even within the borders, travelling back was dangerous. You could easily trip and bash your head open on something, or a wild animal could bite you. Like Keith said, galras weren’t the only enemies they had. Lance had never been a big fan of the dark. All of his biological family had died at night. Whenever he was out late, he would see more shadow people, weird-looking monsters, and sometimes a few galra. Occasionally there would be a few regular mortals wondering about, but that wasn't anything he paid attention to.

The two walked in silence, both wanting to say something but not knowing how to word it. They had walked roughly halfway to the exit of the time loop and neither had said a word in over 10 minutes. It had taken them a lot shorter to walk the distance the first time, but that was when it was light and they weren’t constantly shining the glowing flower Shay and Nyma- the one with the blonde pigtails- had given them. It was the only source of light Keith and Lance had, though it wasn’t much.

“Why did Shay and Nyma give us so little light?” Lance questioned. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just give us a torch or something?”

“Any strong amount of light that you shine when its dark can set off monsters and have them come search for you and attack you.” Keith replied, whispering. “Bringing a torch would be like setting off a gigantic signal flare that exploded in the sky and the sparks read _‘Hey, please eat me~!’_ Honestly I would’ve preferred to go without light but that too is a risk.”

Lance nodded, he had figured that much was true. He shined the flower light at his feet and then right in front of him. Something yellow- eyes, perhaps- flashed briefly. Then there were rustles in the bushes later and he came to an unsettling conclusion.

“Hey, Keith,” Lance whispered. The said male hummed, not bothering to look at him. Though he’d never admit it that disappointed him, considering how pretty Keith’s face is. Not that it was the gay thoughts talking- even a straight male would find him gorgeous- okay, maybe it was the gay thoughts.

_Keith looks a little pretty. Fine, I’ll admit that. Go away gay thoughts._

_Fuck you,_ They replied. He continued with his sentence. “I have a feeling that we’re being followed.” Keith suddenly stopped walking and went stiff. “You said the galra had yellow eyes, right?” His voice sounded monotone but Lance could. spot a bit of fear when he spoke.

“Yeah, but I doubt it would be a galra. It’s impossible for them to enter a loop from what I’ve been told. It could be a dangerous animal, though. Let’s keep going.” The black-haired man nodded and continued stepping forward with caution. About a minute later, the bushes rustled once again. Keith had instinctively grabbed Lance’s wrist and held it tightly. The latter hardly noticed the action, he was more focused on the bushes from which the sound came.

The bushes began to rattle a lot more. Keith had his hand on his knife, ready to draw it as soon as whatever that thing was showed its face.

He didn’t have enough time to react, though, when a small animal bounded out of the bushes. Its yellow eyes had gleamed for a split second in the flower’s light. When he turned it down, he saw something rubbing against his legs and purring.

“I think,” Lance said. “That this is a regular, normal cat.” He squatted down to pet it and Keith did the same, Lance rubbing its head and Keith scratching right at the base of her tail.

“You’re right,” He whispered. “Nothing abnormal about her.” Seeming grateful about the attention, the cat bounded away. Lance stood up and brushed off his pants, the other boy following suit.

They continued walking in comfortable silence. Several minutes had passed since their encounter with the cat. Lance was surprised when Keith spoke first, as he didn’t seem to be much of a talker.

“I’ve been here for nearly 25 years in your time and I haven’t aged a bit. Do you think that’s a bad thing?” Lance shook his head.

“Not really,” He answered. “You’re magical, Keith. This time loop probably is a newborn baby compared to some others, but from what I’ve heard living in loops are normal for people like you.”

“What about you, Lance? Are you staying in the loop?”

Lance bit the inside of his cheek at the question. The truth is- Lance hadn’t really decided. Yes, he could be a part of some gigantic war between Gifted and the galra, but joining them would mean leaving Coran, Ivy, and Elizabeth behind. Unless-

“Cats, like normal house cats- they can come through the loop right?”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

“Answer mine first,”

“Fine, yes they can get through. Cats are peculiar creatures, they are quite skilled at stalking and hunting. In fact, they brought good luck as some older Gifteds say.” Keith replied. “Now, are you staying or not?”

“I honestly haven’t decided. I don’t want to leave my friends and family back in the regular world, yet here I could become someone much more greater. I could feel important. That’s what everyone wants- to be important, right?” Keith nodded.

“I can’t understand from experience where you’re coming from. I- nevermind, that story can wait. Though I guess I could get why you would have issues leaving. You have people you consider your family and you don’t want to leave them. If I had a family back in the regular world, I would hesitate to leave them, too. Just keep in mind that not joing us would put them in danger. You may have a super rare and valuable Gift that may save the lives of many during this war. I’m not demanding that you stay, I’m just saying it's the smartest action.”

The arch that marked the end of the loop was right in front of them. Lance turned to Keith and said, “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow morning then.”

“Don’t you mean later today?”

“It isn’t tomorrow until I go to sleep,” Keith rolled his eyes.

“Anyways, I’m coming back with you. It’s too dangerous for either of us to go back alone. I’ll just glamour myself invisible and sneak into the hotel. Then you can introduce me to your psychiatrist and I’ll sleep on the pull-out couch or something,”

“You can make yourself invisible, too?”

Keith shrugged. “Every Gifted can do it, but depending on how good with your Gift you are determines how long you can stay invisible for.”

“So, we’re heading out in the morning, right?”

“Around 07:45, yes,”

“Then let's get going.”

 

* * *

 

On the way back from the loop, the two chatted briefly about a few things- Keith’s opinion on cats (they were cuter and much easier to handle), Keith’s history with Allura (he said he’d explain more later), and a few other miscellaneous things. They now stood side-by-side at the entryway of the inn. Keith snapped his fingers and became invisible, and Lance wondered that he had ditched him and teleported, but those thoughts were lost when Keith punched his shoulder.

“I’m still here, I’m not an asshole. I wouldn’t ditch you like that.” He said.

“Are you sure about that?” Lance had lowered his voice, trying to impersonate that one John Cena meme. Keith seemed to have no knowledge about it, so he just ignored it. Keith stepped inside when the automatic doors opened and Lance soon followed. He figured that the pale boy had been outside the loop before for him to know what the automatic opening doors are.

They both walked past the reception desk- the lady paid them no mind as she looked stressed and deep in conversation on the phone- and got into the elevator. After they came to a stop on the floor Lance was staying he pulled the card out of his jacket pockets. Keith de-glamoured right after that. As soon as he unlocked the door, he was met by a nearly crying Coran who jumped into his arms and nearly started crying.

“Lance, gods, I was so quiznaking worried about you! You’re okay, right?” Coran asked. Lance nodded in reply. The moustached man emitted a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank the gods you’re safe! I was worried, you know! I thought you had been kidnapped!”

“I was perfectly fine, Coran. I’m glad you’re concerned about me, but-” He stopped talking as soon as he noticed Keith, who was fidgeting with his thumbs uncomfortably.

“Who’s this?” He asked Lance. Keith looked startled for a second, and then met eyes with the elder man.

“Um, hi, I’m Keith. I met Lance earlier today and walked back here with him. It was too dangerous for either of us to go back alone, so I decided to come with him for the night.”

Coran nodded. He was silent, his expression normal- until he seemed to connect some invisible dots. “If you’re looking for a one-night stand, this isn’t the place, Keith.” Coran said. When the words processed through the two boys’ heads, they began to blush.

“I just met him today! He’s just a friend, Coran!” Lance protested, waving his arms frantically.

“Like I’d ever fuck this idiot!” Keith exclaimed.

“I’m not an idiot! Do you want to go?”

“Says the one who didn’t know his-”

Coran’s hearty laughter interrupted their bickering. Both of them were blushing slightly, the conversation an awkward one.

“Calm down, lads, I was just joking around. Keith, you’re taking the pull-out bed couch, right?” The said male nodded. “Okay, good! Now, Lance, get ready to sleep okay? it’s nearly 01:30 in the morning.”

“Coran, sir,” Keith said. “We have some things we need to do tomorrow and we have to leave about 07:45. Is that okay?”

“As long as Lance isn’t dead and comes back by the end of day, you guys can go wherever,” He answered, twirling his moustache. “I have a little thing of my own I want to do. You two can have all the fun you want as long as you’re back around midnight.” They both nodded.

Keith and Lance walked over to the pull-out bed. Lance helped him set it up and after that, sat with him for a few minutes.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Lance.” Keith whispered. “Just try not to complain too much when I get you up early, okay?” Through the dim lamp light, Lance could see that the pale boy was smiling. He smiled back and replied, “Yeah, I’ll try my best. Goodnight, Keith.”

“Goodnight, Lance.”

With that, the Cuban got up and turned off the lamp light, walked to his room, and fell deep into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the way
> 
> THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO MY 11/10 CUTE GIRLFRIEND IZZY  
> HAPPY VALENTINES DAY/ANNIVERSARY MY PRECIOUS KITTEN!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!
> 
> also i hope u guys enjoyed the fluff because shit will go down next chapter  
> no spoilers tho  
> so leave comments to motivate me to get the klangst sooner!!!


	4. Illusions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's all my fault."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp that took a while.   
> It would have been up sooner but I've been busy trying to finish the HoO series. (I will do a klance Percy Jackson AU someday wink wonk)  
> But I still posted it.   
> Also, happy early birthday to Pidge! I hope you enjoy my present to them this chapter! :)

To say that Lance was angry when awoken at precisely 07:03 was an understatement.

He always hated waking up early, and when he was he put up a very big fight about it. Lance’s biological parents had always homeschooled him up until their death, and most of his foster parents that heard about that homeschooled him as well so he’d feel more comfortable at his temporary home. Some, however, forced him into public school and in return had to deal with his fits and fights that broke out. One even forced Lance into Catholic school. It only made him even less religious than he already was.

In other words- Lance got violent when tired.

After calling his name for three minutes, Keith started to shake Lance awake. The only response the pale boy got was an incoherent grumble. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Keith said, “Get your ass up before I force you to.”

Another mumble, probably a not-so-nice term for Go away. He continued at his own risk.

By continuing- Keith meant slapping the Cuban hard across the cheek and maintaining the burn for a few more seconds than usual.

By risk- a boney tan fist came flying up at Keith’s nose and harshly connected with it.

“I thought I told you to fuck off!” Lance growled, sitting up and glaring at Keith. The latter furrowed his eyebrows.

“I told you we’d be getting up early,” He said, trying to control the growing wildfire within himself. “And you said you wouldn’t complain.”

“I said I would try, never that I actually would. You need to remember this stuff, _flame_ _princess_.” Keith covered his face at the reply. Seeing this- well, more like squinting at it- Lance smirked.

“What, do you have a princess kink or somethin’?” He asked. The pyrokinetic’s eyebrows furrowed.

“You gave me a nosebleed, goddamnit!” Keith removed his hand from his face to reveal the blood that trickled from his nose and smeared on his hand. His face was still red, however, though from anger or embarrassment Lance didn’t know.

“What, do you think I am just _that_ hot? Your powers worked better than I thought it did. I didn’t know fire freaks had hotness detectors!”

“You didn’t give me the nosebleed, your punch did!”

“Well, in that case, I _technically_ still gave you it.”

“You knew what I meant!” Keith was growing tired of screaming at the tan boy. Clamping his hand back up to his face, he growled. Keith was about to walk out of the room when he heard a small chuckling noise. Then full scale laughter, and _boy_ was that laughter beautiful. He may have only known Lance for a day, but Keith can spot authentic, beautiful laughter a mile away.

He didn’t want to show his true feelings, though, and turned back around to snap at Lance.

“Quit laughing! You have a stupid laugh and a stupid voice and overall you’re just stupid!” Keith yelled. Lance’s expression hardened from a happy one to a monotone, almost sad expression.

“I don’t like it when people state the obvious, especially when it’s about me,” Lance deadpanned. He stood up and went over to his suitcase, unzipping it. “You can go now, I’ll be ready in 5 minutes.”

“Don’t you, like, I don’t know, have a skin care routine or something you have to do?” Keith asked, trying to make fun of him more to suppress his embarrassment.

“I do, but _a_ that shouldn’t concern you and _b_ I don’t have to do it all the time.” He replied, gritting his teeth while taking out his clothes for the day- a grey tank top with a blue sweater and some black jeans, along with undergarments. “Believe it or not, I’m not narcissistic. I actually like helping people. It’s why I came here, why I came for you, and honestly I’m starting to regret my decision because of how you’re treating me for no reason.”

At that, Keith started to feel guilty, even more than he had before. This guy, he could tell, has been through some tough things and hide it behind a mask of jokes and happiness. Though, occasionally, the mask slips off, and Keith can see into glimpses of his soul that remind him of his own self- putting on a mask of apathy to block out the world from seeing the ghosts of his past.

“I’m sorry,” Keith muttered and walked out of the room. He was already fully dressed, having no change of clothes the night before and feeling too shy to ask for some spares. He flopped down on the couch and stared up at the ceiling, thinking. _Why did I say that? It was really rude and uncalled for._

 _It’s not like I can help it, I just don’t like to feel vulnerable_. Keith shook his head. He wanted to forget his harsh words and try to make things better. After all, there’s just something about Lance that intrigues Keith and makes him want to know him more.

 

Meanwhile, Lance was getting changed. He was in the bathroom, staring into his reflection, focusing on his glistening eyes and reddened nose. Keith’s words shouldn't've gotten to him, he knew that, but hearing someone say his deep thoughts out loud left a bruise on his self-esteem. Lance slapped himself.

“Snap out of it,” He muttered. “It doesn’t matter. If Keith thinks that, then I’ll let him think that, but the only person allowed to actually say that about me is me.” He slipped on his shirt.

“I may think that, but everyone has to at least sound like they’re enjoying me. I don’t want them to admit how much of a burden I know I am.” Lance pulled up his jeans and looked in the mirror.

“I don’t see how I could ever be this amazing, talented saviour to all these people. Then again, I never imagined my moms would be biphobic. Anything is possible, I guess.” Taking in a deep sigh, Lance flicked out the lights and walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Keith was leaning by the doorway on the counter in the hotel kitchen. When he heard Lance’s door open, his gaze automatically shifted to focus on him. Lance noticed that his face was slightly red- _probably angry from having to deal with me, as people usually seem to be,_ he noted _._

The black-haired male shoved his hands in his pockets and stood up straight. “Ready to go?” Keith asked, to which Lance replied with a nod. He glanced at the clock on the microwave. The green buttons read 07:38, only seven minutes before they had planned to leave. It wasn’t too bad, considering Lance’s reluctance to leave the comfort of his hotel bed.

The two walked out the hotel door and into the elevator. An awkward silence hung in the air between the two, and although Lance wanted to fill it he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. On any other occasion he would have loved to tease Keith, but as for now the time just wasn’t right.

After about five soundless minutes of walking down the path to the house, Keith finally broke the barrier. “Look, I’m sorry for earlier, I didn’t mean what I said. For the most part.”

Lance turned his head towards Keith. “The most part?”

“Well, you are a little annoying and overly heterosexual.”

Lance scoffed, “Seriously? I may flirt with every pretty person I see, myself included, but how is that being overly straight?” The shorter male rolled his eyes.

“You’ve only flirted with girls, and yourself doesn’t count,” Keith pointed out. “You think every girl is pretty-”

“Because,” Lance said. “They are. Just stating the obvious here,”

“And so you flirt with them. I saw how you acted around Allura and Nyma.”

“Still doesn’t mean I’m extremely heterosexual.”

“It kind of does,” Keith replied. “What I don’t get, though, is why you don’t want to admit it.”

“Basic bitches that make out with their boyfriends and grind on each other in public are gross. I had an experience like that once at a waterpark. My twelve year-old mind was scarred.” Lance explained. A small smile formed on Keith’s face.

“At least we can agree on that,” He said. “Though overly gay affection isn’t as bad, any couple shoving their tongues down each other’s throats where other people can see is disturbing.”

Lance replied, “I guess you’re right that I do flirt a lot with girls. They deserve the attention.” Keith snorted.

“What they deserve is a break from terrible pick-up lines I’m sure you use.”

“They aren’t _that_ bad. I’m pretty sure you can’t do any better. Girls are cute but confusing creatures.”

“I don’t even like girls, so I don’t even need to think of crappy pick-up lines to use on them. Though, hypothetically, mine would be better than yours.” Keith stated, rushing the last sentence so it doesn’t coming across like he was admitting defeat to the cheesy boy.

“Mine are still better than yours, considering you don’t have any.” Lance smirked proudly. “Who cares if you don’t like girls? Guys like pick-up lines, too. In fact, I used a pick-up line on a guy in middle school once as a joke. He got mad and called me a faggot and stuff, but I honestly didn’t give a shit. What he said was all true.”

“Wait, Lance, you’re _not_ overly straight?” Keith asked, genuine surprise in his voice. The said male laughed in reply.

“What, did you actually expect me to be? That’s the best joke I’ve heard all day!” Lance laughed some more.

“It’s only around seven-fifty in the morning, so that makes sense.” Keith pointed out. Lance nudged Keith with his elbow.

“Hey, where’s your sense of humour?”

“I prefer to stay out of stupid conversations, thank you.” He said, a smile on his face despite his words. “Anyways, Lance, you’re bi?” The tan man’s grin widened and he nodded his head rapidly.

“Yup,” He answered, popping the _p_. “Though I’m much more open with females-”

“Obviously,” Keith butted in.

“I can appreciate a good dick every once in a while.”

Keith slapped him. “Watch your mouth, boy,” He scolded. “Or I’m gonna burn it.” To emphasise his point, Keith let a ball of flames erupt in his hands.

“You’re not my mother,” Lance replied, backing away from the flames. Keith quirked an eyebrow.

“Which one?”

The two began laughing in unison and the flames extinguished. They began making small talk about the house and extra pieces of information about its residents. When they reached the edge of the woods leading to the house, Lance asked the question that’s been on his mind since the whole pick-up line conversation.

“Keith, are you gay?”

Having come out of nowhere, the sudden question startled and embarrassed Keith.

“I-I mean,” He started, shoving a hand over his face when he stuttered his words. “I guess? I’ve never really been attracted to girls, and all though I’ve thought about guys before I’ve never gotten close enough to them to form a real romantic connection.”

“So, you’re like, demi-homosexual?”

Keith shrugged. “That’s probably the term that fits me best. I don’t really think about my sexuality a lot since it doesn’t really bother me.”

“Alright,” Lance said. “I get where you’re coming from. I form small crushes on girls easily, but on guys it takes a lot more time and development. It’s not impossible, though. In fact, my first crush was on a boy. I haven’t experienced a romantic attraction for one in, what, five years? six?”

“It’s been about the same for me,” Keith said. “Though I had a crush on of the guys here, Shiro, about two decades ago.”

“I remember Pidge mentioning something like that when they… assumed things,” Lance recalled. “Speaking of which, why did you claim not to be gay when Pidge said you were?”

Keith shrugged. “I just didn’t want you to hate me, I guess, considering we’d be working together for the assessment. Yes, you’re annoying but if you aren’t going to work well during the assessment there’s a good chance of something bad happening in the future.”

“You didn’t want to scare me off,” Lance concluded. “Because I could save the world some day.”

“Basically,”

Lance hopped over a fallen tree branch after walking through the entrance to the time loop. “Fat chance,”

“Look, Lance, I know this is all super confusing, but try not to underestimate yourself. I’ve met a lot of talented gifted people over the years, and most start out feeling unsure about themselves but go on to recognise their great powers.” Keith said. “Some did end up getting scared off, and as you can guess-”

“You had to wipe their memories.” Keith nodded. “There’s always magic available for that, though more often than not they forget everything, go insane, and kill themselves.”

“What a happy ending.”

“We can’t let people running around and screaming about us. For one, they’ll be called insane, and probably end up just that. Secondly, there will be curious people that go off looking for us. If we’re found, that not only dangers the regular mortals but alerts more galra of our presence. We’ll be attacked and it could lead to a large war with lots of casualties.”

“Just so you know, I’m not planning on leaving.” Lance told him. “This world is much more interesting than whatever I had.”

“It's also much more dangerous. There's monsters everywhere, all looking to kill us, especially the galra.” Keith’s eyes hardened when he mentioned the purple monsters- the ones Lance thought were hallucinations until he arrived here. He understood Keith’s hatred for the things. Seeing them in his dreams and real life, seeing the destruction they do to cause fear and anger in all the gifted- only made Lance realise that they’re a lot worse than he originally imagined.

“Though I highly doubt it, apparently I have a place here. I don’t want any people to get hurt because of me.”

“Y’know, when I first met you, I was convinced you were a shallow, narcissistic fuckboy.”

“There’s more to people than what you get from your first impression of them.” Lance replied. The two had just arrived at the gates of the house. It was a few minutes after eight in the morning, and clouds hung low in the air.

“It looks like it’s going to rain,” Lance commented as Keith opened the gates.

“It’ll disappear by 10:30.” He replied and gestured for the Cuban boy to enter, following after Lance did so and shutting the gates.

“How do you know?” Lance asked, then felt stupid when he thought of the answer immediately after talking. “The time loop affects everything but the gifted, right?”

“Correction- everything inside the house. Basically, yeah,” Keith confirmed. “Everything is the same. The sky always looks the same, it’s always the same temperature, the wind always blows at the same time and speed. It’s just the things we do each day that are different.”

“Do you ever get bored?”

Keith smirked at the question. “We always have plenty of things to do. My personal favourite are the town raids.”

“Town raids?” The shorter male opened the doors of the house.

“I’ll let the others explain it to you later.” At that, the two walked in.

Lance was met with the house filled with a buzz of excited chatter. There were many people running from different halls and down the stairs, all in different pyjamas. A small girl that looked about eight tripped, and Matt, who was standing by the staircase, caught her.

“Try not to hurt yourself, Ellie. I don’t want to make it the third time this month.” He said, balancing out the girl. She pouted and replied, “You should fix those stupid stairs, then.” Matt shook his head and smiled.

“I’ve told you, Ellie, the stairs are fine. It’s just you run so quickly to get to the dining area!”

“It’s because Hunk’s food is the bestest!” She protested, stomping her feet.

“That’s because he’s the only one here who’s food isn’t poisonous or burnt.” Keith muttered, eyes locked on Ellie and Matt. Lance snorted, which seemed to catch Matt’s attention. He looked over at the two standing in the doorway, ruffled Ellie’s hair and gave them a wave.

“Hi, Keith and Lance!” He welcomed. “You’re just in time. Hunk made a special meal for Lance’s arrival! He made sure that no one took your spot or the spot next to you.”

“No one ever takes my spot,” Keith said, eyes following the small girl as she ran to what Lance assumed to be the dining area. “Or the seat next to me. But why bother to reserve them?”

“Because you and Lance are sitting beside each other, right?” Matt asked rhetorically. Keith’s purple eyes widened.

“What? Why? He should be able to sit where he wants! I don’t want his shitty flirting anywhere near me!” He exclaimed. _It’s not_ _that_ _bad,_ Lance thought.

“C’mon, Keith! You know it’s tradition for the person who brought a new recruit to sit beside them!” Matt nudged his shoulder. “Besides, I doubt Lance will do too much flirting. Making a good first impression is important for the ladies.”

“Thanks for the advice, Matt, my man,” Lance said. “I’ll try not to do too much, I don’t want to scare all my potential babes off.” Keith groaned.

“Okay, fine, let’s just go.” Keith said. “I’m getting hungry, anyways.” The other two boys agreed, and they all walked to the dining hall.

Like everything else in the house, the dining hall was beautiful and massive. A diamond chandelier hung high on the tall ceiling glittered rainbow in the fresh, morning light. The white walls had swirling patterns that seemed to constantly change shape and colour, one moment never being an identical appearance to the next. A vast table stretched throughout the centre of the room and by the looks of it more than 60 people would be able to sit there. Although most of the seats were full, there were about six or seven that were currently empty. Each seat had a plate and multiple pieces of silverware on the table in front of it. They looked spotless, as if they were just taken out of the box for the first time.

“Pretty, huh?” Matt asked, noting Lance’s eyes shining in admiration.

“Everything about this place is pretty- the landscape, the house, the decorations, and especially the women.” Lance replied, looking around the room. He spotted Nyma in one of the far left seats, chattering excitedly- or so it seemed- to a male with a grey complexion across from her. Matt laughed at his words.

“As long as you don’t hit on Pidge or any girls younger than sixteen, feel free to flirt all you like.”

“Please don't. I’ll kill myself.” Keith replied. Lance could tell he wasn’t kidding.

“You look like the type of person who constantly wants to die, though,” Lance inferred.

“You aren’t wrong.”

The Cuban boy opened his mouth to reply, but was stopped by the sight of a beautiful woman with platinum hair walking towards the trio with a smile.

“Glad to see you guys getting along well,” Allura said, a warm expression on her face. “Can you lovely boys go take your seats? Hunk is getting ready to bring out the food.” All three of them nodded, and Allura left to do whatever she was going to do.

“You heard the girl, Keith,” Lance said, nudging him with his elbow. The latter said nothing, just took his hand and started dragging him towards their seats. Compared to the far left section of the table, the right was where most of the empty seats were. Keith plopped down in his seat at the far corner of the table.

“Sit,” Keith instructed. Lance complained about having to sit so far from most of the cuties, but obliged anyway.

“I don’t like people, okay?” Keith growled. “It’s hard even talking to you for an hour, so if you expect me to sit in a crowd for about half that time you’re crazy.”

“Dude, calm down,” Lance replied, making hand motions in an attempt to further explain his point. “I was just looking forward to flirting with some of them-”

“Well, guess what? You’re annoying me, so you can go ahead and leave. Go hang out with them. I don’t care.”

 _Well, don’t mind if I do,_ Lance thought. _I_ _thought_ _we_ _actually_ _had_ _something_ _going_ _on_ _between_ us. Just another hallucination, I _guess_. He stood up, scanning the crowd for a good place to sit. When he spotted a good place to sit, he didn’t even take two steps before a hand reached up and grabbed his.

“But actually don’t. I- Allura wants you to sit beside me, because I rescued you and stuff.” Lance plopped back down, a little disappointed that he couldn’t hang out with some more friendly people.

“Allura sits at the end of the table. This end, to clarify.”

Nevermind.

“Who else sits here besides Mr. Grumpy Face and Gorgeous?” Keith ignored the comment.

“Shiro, Hunk, and Hunk’s girlfriend. Pidge, occasionally.” He answered. “And don’t even think about hitting on Shay. Hunk may be a soft guy but when it comes to her he’ll get really upset. An upset Hunk is not one you want to meet.” Lance nodded, remembering Shay from yesterday. She was cute, but not his type. If this Hunk dude was in love with her he wouldn’t interfere. He may have eyes, but he isn’t that much of an asshole.

“Speaking of Hunk, there he is now.”

Lance turned his head and saw a guy that looked about as old as himself, with warm brown skin and a yellow apron over his t-shirt. Allura and Shay followed behind him, carrying plates of food, as well as another girl with electric blue hair, who seemed to be using telekinesis on her share.

“The food is ready!” Hunk announced, making the room go silent. He set down his plates and spread them along the table, the girls doing the same. The blue-haired girl walked over to the crowd and sat down in the seat Lance had been eyeing. _She’s_ _pretty,_ He thought, _But not really my type. That hair would make me go blind if I stared for too long._

Allura went back to her spot, and Lance was happy he could get a better view of her. The room remained quiet as she spoke,

“Attention, everyone!” She said, which didn’t have much effect considering how everyone was already looking at her. “I have a very important announcement today! Yesterday, Keith found this boy-” She gestured for Lance to stand, which he did slowly- “Running in our woods. He had accidentally entered the time loop, trying to escape from- well, why don’t you tell us yourself, Lance?”

Allura smiled when she spoke her request. Lance knew she was just being friendly, but it felt like more of a punishment than a curse.  _I can’t do this. They’ll make fun of me. I won’t have a good reputation._ Breathing in deeply, he opened his mouth to speak. “I-”

“There was a monster chasing him,” Keith said. “He thought he was hallucinating at first, but after he started being chased, Lance here realised it was real.”

“Why didn’t he fight?” A voice from the crowd asked.

“What kind of monster was it?” Said another.

“What’s his name?”

“How did he get here?”

“Where’s he from?”

“Why-”

“Enough with the questions!” Keith shouted.

“You don’t have to be so rude, Keith.” The first voice sneered. “I feel bad that he has to be near you.” Although barely noticeable, Keith’s eyes glistened for just a second. He rubbed them- probably attempting to stop the tears.

“Lance didn’t know a thing about this world until now. He came upon it by accident, when he ran away from a shadow monster. A _pardus_ , to be exact. Same type of monster as a galra, just a lower-ranked version.” Keith explained.

“Stop trying to seem smarter than you are, idiot.” The voice said again. “Quit being a show-off.” Keith balled his fists and flames danced in his eyes. He stared hard at the owner of the voice, seemingly determined to burn him to a crisp. However, before he could do that, Lance put his hand on Keith’s fist, fighting the urge to pull away from the scorching touch.

“Please don’t let him get to you,” Lance whispered. “I understand how you feel about him. I’ve had that kind of hatred myself. Just please, calm down, okay? I don’t want my first real day here to be spent watching this house burn down.” Keith became less tense, and the excruciating heat died down to pleasant warmth. Deep purple eyes met blue, and Lance gave him a smile. He gave Keith’s hand one more squeeze before letting go, not missing the forming blush on the latter’s face.

“Right, so, um, this pardus thing that Keith graciously described for me had been chasing me through  
the woods. I’ve had a fair amount of monster hallucinations, though now I’m convinced they were all real. I didn’t have a weapon to fight the monster with, and I don’t even know my own gift. Keith showed up just as the monster was about to kill me and showed it up with his awesome flames.”

“It wasn’t really that awesome,” Keith said. “Just basic training.”

“I doubt you even saved him. You don’t give a crap about others.”

Lance had enough of that dude. The way he kept picking at Keith reminded him of things his childhood bullies used to say.

“Look, I don’t know what beef you guys have with each other, but now is not the time for you to pick at him.” He growled. “Keith saved my life from that ga- pardus in more ways than just physically. I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for him, so you need to stop being such a jerk.”

The boy met Lance’s eyes in an angry stare, but said nothing. Lance brightened his face up. “Now, to continue, hopefully without any more interruptions, Keith brought me here last night. Allura said I’m going to have an ability assessment in a day or two.”

“I already have some people in mind who are going,” Allura said. “Keith will be leading along with Matt for communications, Pidge for entering the data, and Shiro for backup in case anything goes...wrong.”

Lance noticed the unease in her voice. “We’ll also need Hunk for making… targets. Yes, targets. Totally safe.”

A feeling built in his gut. Something bad was going to happen, and Lance didn’t need prophecy powers to understand that.

“We’ll set out tomorrow morning. There will be a slight adjust in the breakfast times so our new recruit and his crew will be able to eat before setting off. Any objections?” No one objected. No one argues with Allura. She smiled.

“Now, Hunk, what did you make for us?”

Hunk beamed and picked up one of the plates. “In honour of our new guest, I made breakfast tortillas! It should perfectly celebrate our new friend’s heritage!” Lance choked. It was a simple mistake, and he knew Hunk didn’t mean any harm, but he corrected him nevertheless.

“Actually,” Lance said, raising up a hand. “I’m Cuban.” After registering his words, Hunk flustered.

“Oh my- Oh gosh, I’m so sorry! Allura told me that you were Hispanic and I- I just assumed-” Lance laughed.

“Don’t worry about it, dude. It happens all the time.” The not-Mexican boy smiled. “Besides, I’m always a slut for tortillas.”

“LANCE! WATCH YOU LANGUAGE!” Allura exclaimed, her skin flushing. Everyone laughed, including Ellie, who proceeded to ask Matt what a slut was.

“Later, sweetie,” Matt rushed, waving his hands frantically, betraying his calm voice. “I’ll explain when you’re older.”

Breakfast went great. Lance spent his time introducing himself and being introduced to everyone. He treated everyone nicely- except for the bitch who had angered Keith. _No_ _one_ speaks like that to anyone. Especially not anyone as pretty as Keith. But that’s irrelevant at the moment.

He spent the rest of the day hanging out with his new friends. Lance got to know more about each of the people whom which he’d be working with tomorrow, minus Keith. For some reason the emo mullet was a little distant. The others explained that Keith was always like this, it was just his personality. Verbally, Lance accepted it, though he knew it wasn’t the case. Pain doesn’t come without purpose.

Lance wanted to comfort him, though he knew it wasn’t the best idea. People distance themselves for a reason- perhaps something in the past, in a dream, or in fear of the future. Lance knows better than to pry, that only makes things worse. Maybe, someday, when they’re closer, he could comfort Keith about his problems. Now wasn’t the time. Though it would be stupid to suggest the time would come. Lance was never good with emotional bonds, and he doubted Keith would be any different. He knew the reason he was so attracted- though hidden, Keith and Lance had many similarities. Maybe it was selfish, but Lance wanted someone to understand him, too, on a deeper level than any ordinary friendship or therapist could have.

 

* * *

 

“Let’s get moving.”

Shiro, Pidge, Keith, and Lance had begun their trek to who-knows-where. All Lance had knowledge about was that it was outside of the house’s protective barriers, and supposedly it was extremely dangerous to test his ability. The sinking feeling in his stomach hadn’t disappeared since it first arrived yesterday, and it kept Lance awake at night. He had to drug up on NyQuil in order to fall asleep. Pidge was carrying the backpack that held the “targets”- which probably weren’t real targets but bombs and shit that would probably start WWIII. They kept staring at a marking on their left hand, a telepathic rune given to everyone by Matt. There was no point in Matt going, considering his job was to stay behind and communicate with everyone, issuing direct orders from Allura. The time ymbryne could not bear any runes on her skin, as Matt explained, because it would weaken her ability to manipulate time and possibly break the loop. Any one with any other ability was okay, but no one understood why. Rune casting was a confusing thing.

Shiro was fiddling with his prosthetic arm, which he had gotten after a galra captured him and tore it off. For some reason, a kind galra gave him that prosthetic arm- state-of-the-art galra technology- because he was “indebted to Shiro’s brother”. Shiro said that he never understood why, that it must’ve been a mistake, because he was always an only child. His parents were too old to have another one, and after he was found and recruited by Allura herself he never saw them again. Shiro had promised he was okay, though hurt still lingered in his eyes.

Hunk didn’t need to come along either. He was no good in combat, so he claimed, only talented at making targets, weapons, and food. Lance had originally asked if his ability was creating amazing, inhumanely good food, but Hunk simply laughed it off and said his gift was perfection; He could make anything perfect no matter how hard he tried to fail. He just couldn’t use any of it (except for his food, which technically was only eaten and not used as a bomb, though he could never participate in any food fights that happened to arise).

Keith was a mystery. He was silent, throwing and catching his dagger and making random shapes out of flame while he listened to Matt’s directions. Lance fought the urge to talk to him about his distance from the others, who were having friendly chatter and laughing amongst themselves.

“Hey Lance,” Pidge said, smirking. “If you’re so interested in Keith, why don’t’cha go on and talk to him?” They nudged his arm with their elbow, their eyebrows wiggling up and down. Lance put his hands on his face and sighed.

“Oh my God, Pidge, I do not like Keith! He’s a stuck-up asshole!”

“Quit denying it, honey. I’m an expert on love.”

“Pidge, you’re aromantic and your only experiences with love are from Japanese RPG’s and superhero shows.” Shiro commented.

“That doesn’t matter, now,” Pidge snapped back to their scheme-y manner. “He’s already looking at you, so go on, tiger, make a move!” Lance rolled his eyes and complied, though probably not in the way they expected. The Cuban boy strolled right up and asked,

“Are those really targets or are they bombs?”

Keith certainly didn’t expect that, and apparently, neither did Pidge. The latter busted out laughing, slapping their knee while Keith simply snorted.

“Neither,” Keith answered. A breeze flew past, fluttering his mullet like some sort of Disney princess. This detail wasn’t exactly relevant, but Lance noted it more well than he would like to admit. “It’s bait.”

“Bait?” Pidge nodded.

“Yup, _bait._ We’re going to lure some shadow monsters out here and watch you kick their ass.”

“I can’t fight-”

“So we’ll have you describe what they look like to you, tell their positions and approximate height, and we’ll kick their asses for you.”

“Pidge,” Shiro butted in. “You can’t fight. You have to put in data and send it to Allura.”

“So? I can do that after. Let me throw a code for a giant stick at their dick! Hey, that rhymes!”

“No, Pidge.” He placed his hand on the feisty child’s head. “Allura specifically said you entered the data live. And don’t even try to suggest she won’t know. She’s a time manipulator. She’ll know.”

“You just don’t want to make your girlfriend angry.” Shiro flushed.

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Pidge just shrugged.

“What’s the point of luring shadow monsters out here just so I can describe what they look like to you? Can’t you do that yourself?” Lance asked.

“You don’t understand,” Shiro responded. “Shadow monsters are called that for a reason. Most gifted’s can only see their shadows, even Allura.”

“Your girlfriend,” Pidge muttered.

“Whatever. Anyways, only those with a very rare gift called the Sight can see those types of monsters. Their true form. Every gifted has to study the silhouette of each monster, their average height, and what time of day the shadow is cast in order to be able to fight them. Sight users, however, don’t need to study anything but the anatomy and weaknesses of the monsters because they can actually see them. People with the Sight are extremely helpful in battle, because they can just list out how big it is and its type and then others will fight it.”

“So, I have this so-called Sight. I’m guessing the help isn’t the only reason it’s important.” Lance said. Keith shook his head.

“It’s not. Sight users also attract a lot of monsters outside of magical borders.”

“Great, I’m a living death magnet.”

“Also, what makes it even more rare is that only males can have the Sight, like how only ymbrynes can be female.” Keith said.

“Biologically!” Pidge screeched.

“You know what I mean. Anyways, with enough training, people without Sight can be able to locate where the monsters are so they can fight them, in most situations.”

_“Most?”_

“There’s a lot of tree cover here. It’s still dark outside, and clouds are covering the sky heavily. It will be hard for us to see any shadows, especially you, so to truly test if you have the Sight we have to go under these dangerous conditions.” Shiro explained.

“So, you’re putting yourself in danger of death because I may have this super-helpful power?”

“That’s the gist of it.”

“Wonderful,” Lance sighed, leaning up against his tree. “So, are you gonna start setting up the bait now?”

Pidge, with their high knowledge about machines, set up the bait. Shiro, a ferrokinetic, summoned a protective steel barrier while the brunette did so. The process took roughly ten minutes, both Lance and Keith watching semi-interested in silence. After all the bait had been said up at all the main cardinal directions within 150 metres, Shiro signaled that they were finished.

“You’re going to start off right in the middle,” Keith stated. “Where all the monsters will come in. Your scent alone is strong enough to attract all monsters within a kilometre, and the added bait will alert any shadow monsters within five, maybe even beyond that. It’s only supposed to attract shadow monsters, and only lesser ones dare to go near our borders. We have no threat from any galras in the area.” What Keith failed to mention is how, in fact, a galra almost passed right through the loop borders, but of course he didn’t want to strike fear in the others.

“When one comes past the lines of the bait, you will then describe the appearance of the monster to Pidge. They will then send the information to Allura and Matt, then Matt will give you instructions on how to fight it.”

“Where will Pidge be?” Lance questioned.

They met his eyes, and proceeded to climb up a tree, settling on a limb roughly 6 metres above the ground. Pidge smirked, comfortably settled in their place in the tree.

“Got it,”

Keith cleared his throat. “Like I was saying, Matt will send you a telepathic message about how to defeat that monster. There’s some magic weapons in the backpack as well, and you can choose which one you want to kill them with. If you have trouble, Shiro and I will help.”

Pidge threw down the backpack into Lance’s arms, which he caught, totally not without a few tumbles. That was just your imagination. He reached into the bag and drew out a sapphire pendant.

“That,” Pidge began describing. “Is a sword. When you grip your hand around the gem and summon the blade, the pendant transforms into a 150 centimetre-long sword. There’s also a ring, and when you twist the stone it turns into a dagger.”

“I’ll pass the dagger,” Lance stated. “I don’t want to seem like I'm trying to imitate Angry Emo Mullet over there.” Pidge snorted.

“Whatever, you don’t seem like the dagger type in the first place. There’s a keychain that turns into nunchucks, and a button pin that turns into a shield.”

“What about anything shooting?” Lance asked. “I’d prefer long-distance sniping to close, hand-to-hand combat.” Judging by the grin on the short kid’s face, they had just the weapon.

“There’s a silver coin,” They offered. “Flip the coin and it lands on heads, a bow-and-arrow. Tails, an artillery rifle. Both with silver arrows and bullets, though the weapon itself is blue. Hunk crafted each weapon specially for you, trying to create what he figured would work for you and appeal to you most, based only off Allura’s knowledge. He especially liked that coin, a gift passed down said to come from the gods themselves. Hunk transformed it into a magical weapon, one just perfect for kicking ass. You’ll do great with it.”

Lance smiled and tucked the coin into his coat pocket.

“Also, no matter where you drop it, the coin will always return to your pocket on whatever clothes you wear. Just make sure you always wear pockets, because otherwise it won’t show up.” They added. “Also, don’t thank me. Thank Hunk. He’s the man.”

“Got’cha,” Lance finger-gunned at Pidge who finger-gunned back. Keith groaned.

“Look, you should really get prepared. It won’t be long before-”

A growl interrupted Keith mid-sentence. The tanned boy’s gaze followed the noise, his blue eyes locking with fiery orange ones.

“-the shadows get here.”

The last part was merely a whisper. Keith ducked behind some bushes along with Shiro.

“Why, hello there, monster,” Lance said, approaching it. “What beautiful orange eyes you have. They remind me of fire.” It took every ounce of strength not to cry and run away, or let the thing kill him right then and there.

“Your legs are so- _interestingly_ shaped. One horse leg and one dragon? The front two both eagle talons? You’re such a special little thing, yes, three metre long monsters are such small things.” He cooed. Gods, this was harder than anticipated.

“Oh, and your fur! Don’t let me forget your fur! A beautiful shade of blue, may I say. Blue is an amazing colour, the best colour, in fact.” The beast snapped at him. Lance jumped back, instinctively reaching for his pocket, but he dropped his hands. He practically radiated fear. Any monsters that could sense the bait could sense his terror, no doubt. However, being the stubborn boy he is, Lance would never permit fear to seep into his words.

“Your face reminds me of a tiger. Tigers are adorable, though lions are better-”

A loud roar broke through the forest, pushing Lance back another five million kilometres. “Sorry, man. Or woman, thing- I don’t judge. Do you want to-” The beast snarled and stuck up its hindquarters, preparing to attack. Matt’s voice seeped into Lance’s head at the last possible moment.

 _I know what it is. Similar to a werewolf, both killed by silver. Fire your arrow now._ No hesitation needed there. As soon as its back legs twitched to pounce, Lance yanked out his coin, threw it, and shot the arrow before he even registered it being in his hands. Right before the sharp, white fangs bit his face off, the arrow pierced the creature’s heart. It exploded into a wave of darkness, taking a minute before its essence was fully gone. Lance let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding.

After a silent moment, Shiro and Keith hopped out the bushes. Pidge gave a thumbs up from their new home in the trees. Shiro took Lance’s hand and shook it, giving him a warm, proud smile like a father would give to his copycat kids, except this smile was more pure, more kindness behind it.

“You did great. The weapon wielding was still uneasy, but still, you did great. The description was 100% accurate according to Pidge’s sources.” He complimented.

“Pidge hacks into the government. That’s the only reason they know every monster by shadow.” Keith deadpanned, to which Lance replied with elbowing his shoulder. “What?” He glared. “I’m only saying the truth.”

“Since everything you said was 100% accurate, we’ll only do one more test. That’s all we need, and your Sight will be confirmed.” Shiro recited. “That monster is a small, lesser shadow monster called a lycanthrope. Literal translation is a werewolf, because that’s practically what they are, just crossbred with many, many other types of monsters. They are-”

Another growl sliced the air, its sound deathly familiar. Lance turned around slow and reluctant, and when he saw what stood before him, his blood chilled and he became paralyzed with shock. The others seemed to have noticed, too, as no sound was made from anywhere.

The galra was about two metres tall, dressed from head to toe in black and red armour. His purple skin radiated defeat, or maybe that was just Lance’s frightened mind playing tricks.

“Glad to see you fear me,” The galran spoke. His deep voice filled the hollow forest with despair. “Fear makes it easier to get what we want.” His eyes locked with Keith’s, and although the fiery soldier couldn’t see him, he sure felt his intense gaze.

“Fortunately, you are all too far away for any groups you summon to get here in time. Don’t even dare try, or I will hurt those dear to you.” He turned and faced Pidge’s tree, where they were typing furiously at their holographic screen. He shot out a ray of darkness and literally picked them out of a tree, throwing them onto the ground with a painful grunt on impact.

“What do you want?” Shiro demanded, his prosthetic arm glowing purple. Different types of metal because rising from the ground, forming a sword that fit snugly into his left hand. The galran eyed his arm.

“A fine piece of craftsmanship you have there,” He complimented, though there was no positive emotion in his voice. “Too bad it was made by a traitor. When we found out he let you escape, I personally tore his arm off, then tortured him to death. It’s funny how stubborn they are, struggling to live when they know there’s no hope because they’re going to die anyways.”

“Answer me.”

“What I want is your little friend here, the one with Sight. Of course, Lord Zarkon has not ordered me to take you yet, and I do not want to have the same fate as that pathetic excuse for a galra. I never disobey orders.”

He struck out at Pidge first, who had just gotten back up standing after their fall. He punched them hard in the head and they collapsed back onto the ground. Lance swore he heard a few bones cracking. Keith had pulled out his flaming dagger, listening intently to the galra’s movements to pinpoint his location. Keith kept blindly shooting fireballs, each one missing the intended target and fizzing out before they hit a tree. Shiro came up behind him with a sword, lashing at the galra. Ironically, he sliced part of the monster’s right arm in a chink in the armour. He roared and shot a blast of dark light, though Shiro effortlessly deflected it. He charged at the galra and stabbed; the latter side-stepped shot another ray, and Shiro ducked just in time to avoid death, though part of his hair was singed and quickly disintegrated like the trees around them.

Without thinking, Lance screamed, “Right!” Keith got the message, and dodged out of the way, sending a fire-filled punch at his head. Once his fist made contact, Lance whipped out his AR. It wasn’t meant for firing this close, but he didn’t care. He had to defeat this thing. Failure this early wasn’t an option.

Making his aim for a chink in his armour, Lance called out Keith’s name, warning him to get out of the way, which he did. However, it also alerted the galra, who shot out a beam of darkness just as Lance fired a bullet. The darkness consumed the bullet and was heading straight towards him, too. He couldn’t move, both from fear of death and acceptance of it. Closing his eyes, Lance waited for the strike. _At least I’ll die knowing I tried._

The darkness never made it to him. Lance opened his eyes, setting his eyes on Keith, both arms ablaze and choking the galra. Both of them screamed, one from pain and the other from anger. For a moment it seemed like things would be okay. For a moment it seemed like they were winning.

What a big delusion.

The galra shot a beam of darkness at Keith, who dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way. However, he only avoided the blast. The galra pinned him down on the ground. Lance attempted to shoot another bullet, though it was consumed in the shield of death around the two. He felt hopeless and furious, never a good combination. Shiro got up and shot arrows of metal at the galra, and the darkness shifted. It literally possessed the arrows and wrapped around Shiro, pinning him down. He kept screaming for the arrows to move, but they never obeyed.

“Keith! Shiro!” Lance’s voice was strained as he called out their names. He then looked back at Pidge, who’s breathing had become shallow. They hadn’t moved since they were thrown, and Lance guessed their ribs were broken, if not anything else. He hadn’t noticed it, but everyone’s telepathy runes had vanished. Probably a work of the galra magic.  _There’s no hope. We can’t call for backup. Pidge is unconscious, Shiro is restrained and his body is slowly burning away, Keith is pinned down with sharp claws scratching at his neck, and I’m too worthless to be of any use._ He felt the tears run wet down his cheeks. This was all his fault. He had come here, alerted the galra, and now his friends are nearly dead. Though he claimed not to, Lance knew the target was him. His new friends were about to die, and all he could do was wallow in self-pity and allow himself to get captured and endanger everyone else. Fucking pathetic.

The galra turned around, making the darkness more transparent. The magic was getting weaker, Lance concluded, because everyone has their limits, no matter how powerful of a monster they are. Lance just needed to distract him enough to break the shield. It was going to be difficult, but he transformed his gun into a bow anyways. Before he even had time to take the bow out of the quiver, the beast approached him.

“I am Sendak,” The monster announced. “Remember that name as I torture you and your friends, I quite enjoy my name when it’s screamed in fear.” He took out a purple back and pulled out to glowing stones.

“These stones, when I throw them hard onto the ground, will teleport us to our headquarters. You will be tortured there, and that information will surely wreck your friends. Once they’re shaken up, we will take the most valuable ones hostage and your kind will be picked off one-by-one until there are none of you left. Then we’ll take over this planet, like how we’ve conquered many others.” Sendak’s eyes locked with Keith’s once again. The pale boy looked as white as a sheet of paper, and red blood spilled out of gashes on his face, throat and shoulders. His dagger was thrown far out of reach. He was obviously on the verge of passing out, and in some serious need of medical care. Lance hoped there were good healers back at the house.

“Only if you promise my friends will be okay,” Lance said. Sendak laughed.

“Have you been listening at all, you moron? Your friends will be the first to die. You will be forced to watch them be killed until you’re the last one left, like what you guys are doing to us. It’s only fair.”

“Fair? I’ll tell you what’s fair. You-”

Sendak gripped the stones in his hand, preparing to throw them. “You’re coming with me. You can’t prevent this.” He walked right up to Lance, only a half metre of distance between the two. Grabbing his arm, Sendak raised his hand high in the sky, preparing to throw the stones. Lance was frozen yet again. He didn’t ask for this. He just hoped that one day, he’d wake up and this would all be a dream. No gifts, no monsters, just happy at home with his moms. Though, this place started as a dream, too.

“I’ll see you in even more pain, soon,” Sendak laughed, clearly enjoying the despair Lance was put in.

“No, you won’t.”

Lance barely had time to register Keith’s raged voice before he butted into his body, knocking Lance out of the way and putting himself where he had been in Sendak’s clutches. The galra didn’t have time to react to the sudden switch of positions. The stones had already been thrown. A flash of bright light surrounded the two, and Lance could faintly make out Keith mouthing _find_ _me_ before the light, along with the pyrokinetic and galra, disappeared.

It didn’t even register into his mind at first. Lance was about to be transported to certain death and excruciating periods of pain. Keith threw himself in between the two of them, disappearing before Lance could even blink. Though once he did, depression and rage and pain surged through him.

 _“KEITH!”_ Lance screamed, louder than he ever had before. “KEITH! WHY DID YOU DO THAT? IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!” Lance kept sobbing, reaching out for the pale boy, but he was already gone. The damage had been done, Keith was missing, and his and everyone else’s lives were in danger. He was right when he said being a Gifted wasn’t fun or interesting. It was downright depressing.

Perhaps this was one all, giant nightmare. He was in a hospital, in a coma, dreaming about a world that can break even the strongest human.All I want is to be home again, safe in the shelter of my mothers, my only worry being hallucinations and vivid nightmares, unable to distinguish reality from dream.  _Lance bit down hard on his arm._ He cried out in pain, and blood seeped out of the bite. _This is real, that’s even worse._ Then again, pain could be hallucinated. _I feel like I’m split in between two worlds, going insane in three of them._

For what felt like hours but only seconds more, Lance sobbed and screamed out the names of everyone, not just Keith, but everyone he knew at the house. Pidge, Shiro, Hunk, Matt, Shay, Ellie, Allura, Nyma, and many others.  _I’m sorry for being so worthless that I couldn’t prevent this._ Coran.  _I don’t think I’ll be able to return sane, let alone at all._ Adria. Cassia.  _I don’t think I’ll ever see you again, but I hope you learn to accept me._ Ivy.  _I’m sorry for being too pathetic to keep my own promise._

A hand on his shoulder broke him out of his trance. “Lance,” A broken, male voice choked out. The said boy let out another sob.

“Shiro,” He whispered. “He’s gone.”

“I know,” Shiro tried to have his voice be strong, but his attempts failed. “At least he’s still alive.”

“Not for long,” Lance sniffed. “As soon as they realise he took my place, he’ll be tortured and murdered. Then they’ll come for me, and the outcome would be even worse.” He shook his head. “We need to save him, but first, what about P-Pidge?” At the mention of their name, another sob erupted from Lance’s throat. Shiro’s eyes were bloodshot as well.

“I looked at them before I came to you. They… their ribs are broken. They’re still unconscious. Pidge should've been awake by now, but-” Shiro finally broke. He began sobbing, a chorus of tears singing a song of death throughout the empty forest.

“Pidge is probably in a coma. They had terrible head tramua, and judging how bad it is, if they ever wake up, they… they won’t be the same.”

“Matt, how will Matt react?”

“He’ll- he’ll probably blame us. He loves his sibling more than he loves himself. If anything happened to them, Matt would avenge them.”

“It’s all my fault,” Lance cried. “I came here and put you all in danger. Keith is going to die, Pidge may die- everyone will blame me.”

“It’s not your fault.” Shiro reassured, though he sounded uneasy himself. “It was the galra’s. We’ll get Keith back and defeat them, okay? Trust me, Lance. This was bound to happen eventually, with or without you.” Lance nodded, though that just made more tears spill.

“Let’s get Pidge back to the house. We’re too far to call for help, and all other sources of communication were cut off. Shiro, can you carry him?” He nodded.

“That’s what I was planning on doing anyways.” He walked over to Pidge’s small, broken body, picking them up in his arms gently. Every shallow breath they look looked painful. There were cuts all over their body, and parts of their arms and legs were twisted at weird angles. Lance felt ready to faint. His head was throbbing, his arms felt like led, and his legs felt like jelly. Nevertheless, he forced himself to move.

“Ready?” Lance asked, though it was hardly a whisper. Shiro starting walking towards the house, Pidge lay limp in his arms. Lance followed close behind him, constantly wiping off tears and the urge to run away and die.

_I’m sorry._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It all goes downhill from here. 
> 
> P.S. I'm not sorry.


	5. Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’ve come to accept I’m not meant to be happy, so don’t even try to make me feel that way. It will just make things worse.”
> 
> “Lance, you deserve happiness.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER:  
> abuse (torture and being beat up), suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt 
> 
> long time no see, huh?
> 
> i'm sorry for the long wait. i had 10k words written by the end of april (which for my family is the busiest month of the year) but google fucked up and deleted everything but the first scene. in may i had finals and stuff but i still managed to get it done! 
> 
> i'm so sorry for the long wait. hopefully, to make up for it, a chapter over 18,000 words will satisfy you for not posting for two months. the chapter was supposed to be 12k-14k words but you know me. if i have a goal i accidentally go way over it. it's basically the length of two chapters, but the way the events flow they all need to be in one chapter.
> 
> so grab your popcorn and tissues, because this is a long and angsty chapter! probably not too angsty, but that's for your tears to decide.

“Oh my gods!”

Matt was standing in the open doorway, his eyes beginning to water. Lance couldn’t blame him, after all, who wouldn’t cry when their sibling looks practically dead, drooping in their friend’s arms? Matt stood frozen, the only moving thing about him are his tears and his heartbeat, which beat so fast compared to his sibling’s. More people began to gather around the door to see what all the fuss- which was more of an unusual silence- was about. Everyone was silent, minus the few gasps from new arrivals.

Lance could hardly stand to look at anyone’s face. The guilt was overwhelming him, coursing through his veins and clogging his thoughts with nothing short of regret. Pidge wasn’t dead yet, he knew it, but it was very much possible that they could die soon. Same with Keith.

_Keith._

Due to his inability to save his friends, Keith risked his life to protect Lance. He figured it was a spur-of-the-moment, heroic thing to do and that was Keith’s reason to practically commit suicide by galra, though his gut screamed in disagreement.

“They aren’t dead yet,” Lance finally whispered, though everyone was so quiet it was loud enough for all to hear. “Neither… Neither is Keith.” As if the shock from Pidge wasn’t enough, the pyrokinetic was missing, too. Nearly everybody was crying, and those who weren’t were too shaken up to. There comes a point where too much grief turns into being void of emotion, and for some this line is a short distance. The possibility of two friends dying made them hurt so much, Lance couldn’t imagine what the Gifteds would feel like, if they were still alive, when everyone around them is dead. Would they become robots forever? Would they die before he could know? Lance had hardly registered the events in the past few hours. It was all too surreal, too depressing for it to be reality. Yet it was, and Lance couldn’t escape that.

 _I wish I were in some other universe that’s a lot less sad,_ Lance thought. _Maybe somewhere in which I could pilot a bunch of robot lions through space with all my close friends here. Man, that would be cool._

“During my assessment, only minor shadow monsters were supposed to come near me. I would describe how they looked, fight them along with Shiro and Keith, a-and that was the plan. It never was supposed to go wrong. The galra weren’t supposed to come anywhere near us, but they did. They wanted me. I… I have the Sight.” Everyone was staring, and Lance shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

“Keith tried to protect me. I don’t know if he did it on purpose or it was just a spur-of-the-moment sort of thing, but he still sacrificed himself. This galra, Sendak, was trying to teleport me to the headquarters. He had some weird teleportation stone thing and Keith got in front of me as soon as he threw them. Once he’s caught, they might kill him, hell, he might even be… gone already.”

Allura stepped forward, her face paler than usual. She didn’t even bother to wipe the tears than ran down her face. “Pidge,” She whispered, caressing their face. The platinum-haired woman turned to Lance.

“I knew it was dangerous. I never thought- I never would have ever thought that the galra would attack.”

“No one did,” Shiro stepped in. “It wasn’t your fault, or Lance’s. Or Keith’s. It’s the whole galra empire's fault, and they deserve to pay for their crimes. This is unforgivable.” Allura nodded, finally wiping away the tears that poured from her face like a waterfall.

“I agree,” She said, keeping her voice level despite her depression. “We’ll get Keith back and avenge Pidge. Haden, take them to the infirmary.” A boy with long blond hair and snot pouring out of his nose picked up Pidge, who flopped in his arms. He walked away, a sob escaping him. Normally, Lance would have picked at someone like that and called them a booger-face, but this wasn’t the time for it. Even still, Lance had become less of an asshole since this whole thing started, though he would never admit it. The thought of pestering him didn’t even cross his mind.

“Shiro, Lance, come inside. Everyone else, make way for them. They’re coming into my office.” Several people went back to their rooms upstairs, but most just moved out of the way, to the left or right. The two said men followed behind Allura wordlessly as they walked to her office.

When they arrived, they all sat down immediately. “So, what happened?”

Lance didn’t know how much time they spent in that room. All he remembers was explaining the full story to Allura, providing all the relevant details while Shiro added his own comments from time to time. He told about how he had passed the first test with a lycanthrope (with flying colours, Shiro put in). It was all going fine, until Pidge was thrown out of the tree after they attempted to contact Matt. Shiro said that their ribs as well as a few limbs had been broken, and they had been put into a coma.

“I’ll contact all the best healers I know, even those not from this loop. With luck, all injuries should be healed and Pidge should be awake in around a week.” Allura had responded to that information. Lance continued to explain that somehow while attacking, the telepathy runes on all of them had disappeared. Sendak claimed to not want Lance at first, which was a crappy diversion according to him (Allura had agreed to this). He later pinned down Shiro, leaving him unable to attack and his restraints would tighten when he tried. Keith had been knocked to the ground and was bleeding, and Lance had been convinced at the time that he really was. Right when Sendak tried to teleport Lance, Keith came up behind them and let out a really badass sounding _no, you won’t._ He would deny he ever described Keith’s words like that later. The pyrokinetic jumped in front of Lance and pushed him out of the way, going into the galra’s clutches instead. He had mouthed for Lance to find him right before he disappeared.

“This… I still haven’t really let it all sunk in.” Allura said. “I guess it will only seem real once we have saved him.”

“What are your plans for that, princess?” Shiro questioned.

“I want to send out a search party consisting of you two, Matt, Hunk, Nyma, and Pid- I mean, Shay. It would be nice to have Pidge, too, but we don’t have time to wait until they get better. Matt may be able to establish a mental connection with Pidge and send me the coordinates of the headquarters.”

“He can do that?” Lance exclaimed, amazed. “Man, I love him even more now.” Allura smiled.

“Yes, Matt can do that. Pidge has been working on finding the layout and coordinates of the galra headquarters for a while now. They recently came up with the coordinates and a rough blueprint of the place- right before you arrived, actually.” She said, looking to Lance. “Not any telekinetic can do that, bring out someone else’s powers while they’re unconscious. You have to be closer to that person than anyone else and you must fully trust them. Those two have been glued at the hip ever since they came here, and rarely ever truly fight.”

God, was _everyone_  here freaking awesome?

“I’m going to announce the news about the search party to everyone now. Come with me.” Shiro and Lance both complied. Allura went back downstairs, where everyone was crowded, whispering amongst themselves. Most were still crying and trying to calm themselves down.

“What if they come here and attack us?” Lance heard one person say. They sounded about ten. His stomach lurched. As people began to notice Allura’s presence, the noise died down until it was as silent as before.

“Attention everyone!” She proclaimed, though it really wasn’t necessary, considering all eyes have been glued on her for the past thirty seconds. Allura proceeded to announce the search party plans to the group, a few of the gifteds muttering uneasily to each other.

“The search party will leave in a day or two, and should return by the time Pidge wakes up.” Allura continued. “Any objections?” No one, still, dared to oppose her.

“Actually,” Matt said, walking forward, raising his hand.

“I do. Just one.”

Nevermind.

His eyes were still puffy and his face was still flustered from sobbing. Matt looked uncomfortable, like he was forcing himself to be in there. Lance couldn’t blame him for wanting to run off to Pidge and wallow in his sorrow, guilt pouring out of him despite doing nothing wrong, and begging to whatever is up there for Pidge to wake up. He wanted to do the same for both them and Keith.

“And what could that be?” Allura asked, her voice pitched higher than usual. People clearly don’t object to her a lot.

“You only send me at first to scout out the headquarters, not the whole search party. It’s too risky to send a party of six people to this unfamiliar and need I say dangerous place. You’d lose a bunch of talented people, considering the galra would be able to find us and kill us easier if we travel blindly as a big group. If we split up, we’ll be even more vulnerable. So just send me at first.”

“Absolutely not!” Allura exclaimed. “That’ll be suicide!”

“I know,” Matt said grimly. “But the other option is suicide to six people at once. This way, sending me alone first, is our best shot at success. I’ll give everyone at the house a telepathy rune. I’ll report to everyone at least every hour, if not less. It’s dangerous, but it’s the best choice. You know this, Allura. You’ve even considered it before, haven’t you?” The time manipulator gulped. Closing her eyes, she let loose a huge sigh.

“You’re right, Matt, I have. It’s just too dangerous.”

“If anyone can do this, it’s me. Trust me, princess. I can do this. It’s the safest way.”

After a moment of reluctance, Allura replied, “Fine. Just keep your promise to talk, okay? If you don’t reply, everyone will assume you’re dead.” Matt laughed and wiped away a stray tear.

“If I don’t, you can assume that. Just make sure you don’t think I’m dead while I’m asleep. The most I can go is 48 hours without rest. I’m sure I’ll find somewhere to sleep that’s hopefully not a jail cell.” Allura smiled.

“Well, you might as well get as much sleep as you can before you leave in two days.”

“I’ll try my best.”

The crowd has begun to get restless, as it’s now more of a conversation between those two than announcement. The talking gradually grew louder, though anyone could hear Matt and Allura talking if they paid attention.

“Can you bring out Pidge’s blueprints and coordinates for the headquarters? Preferably now, before they go too deep out of consciousness.” Matt smiled sadly.

“I’ll try my best, though I can’t promise I’ll be able to do anything with their current state. I just wish they were awake to do it themselves. All I feel like I can do is break down in tears.” Allura sighed.

“We all do.”

Matt turned away and ran towards the infirmary. Lance barely heard his sobs as he ran, but he could clearly see him breaking apart. Lance decided it was too depressing to look at for now and contemplated talking to Hunk. He, however, was crying and making animated hand gestures as he talked to his girlfriend, who was attempting to calm him down. Lance didn’t have to think about what to do, however, because a warm hand sat itself on his shoulder. He gulped, the all-too-familiar feeling reminding him of a recent not-so-happy event. It took all his will not to sob again.

“Do you want to go back to your hotel?” Shiro asked. Lance nodded, unable to form the words. “Alright, I’m going to walk there with you. Make sure no monsters try to kill you or anything. Allura already approved of it, just make sure you show me the way. I can get back on my own, my sense of direction is pretty good.” The two pushed past a few people and walked out of the house.

For about the first five minutes, the two were silent, reflecting back on the morning. It was hard to believe this all happened only around an hour ago. It felt like years yet only seconds at the same time.

“Hey,” Lance said, breaking the silence. “Can you tell me a bit about Keith? Maybe why he would try to save me?”

“Well, for one, he doesn’t like stuff being wasted. Keith probably sacrificed himself because he just saved you, a supposed hero, a few days before. Despite his confident appearance, he actually doesn’t think too highly of himself. He probably figured it was better to throw himself away and save you than let you get captured and killed, since you’re supposed to be some type of saviour and all.” Shiro explained. “He also seems to like you. That’s the type of thing he’d do to those he considered a friend.”

“What about a boyfriend?”

Shiro laughed, and man, does everyone here have a beautiful laugh? Lance swore that some type of god came down and blessed the members of the house with a gorgeous laugh once they’ve proven themselves worthy of such perfection.

“Oh, are you referring to when he asked me out once? That was like, twenty years ago. It was just a small crush. Keith doesn’t fall in love easily. Crushes, on the other hand, whenever he gets one it’s super funny. He tries to make it subtle by actually making it super obvious. You should have seen him when Matt thought he was crushing on Pidge. He never did, to my knowledge, but Matt literally tried to beat up Keith for it.”

Lance laughed, the image giving him temporary happiness. He may have not known Keith for long, but he could totally see that being something he would do. An image of Keith disappearing flashed into his mind. Lance pushed it out with another question.

“So you two have no romantic feelings now?”

“I never really did. I always saw him as a cute little fire ball, though never romantically. Kind of in a brotherly way. He’s pretty attractive though, I can admit. He sees me as a brother too, since you’re wondering. Keith is 100% available.”

Lance blushed. “I don’t like- whatever. How do you feel about Allura? Don’t you like her, too?” It was Shiro’s turn to flush.

“Sadly, it’s taboo for a ymbryne to fall in love. Even if I do like her, it isn’t exactly easy to start dating.” Lance decided to drop the subject and not point out how painfully obvious Shiro makes his crush. He noticed that they were right near the hotel. Shiro seemed to realise this as well.

“Look,” Shiro said. “I meant what I said earlier about Keith liking you. You’re not a stranger to him, you’re a friend, even if he doesn’t recognise it yet. He may jump to kill himself at any given opportunity, but he wouldn’t sacrifice himself for anyone he doesn’t consider important.”

“Keith probably just wanted to prove that he’s better than me.” Lance stated. Shiro chuckled.

“Maybe.”

 

* * *

 

Maybe slamming the door wasn’t a good idea, especially when there was a fifty year-old man sitting on a couch right near it.

“Lance!” Coran exclaimed. The expression on his face made it obvious that the young boy had scared him half to death. The said boy locked eyes with Coran, and tears began to well in his eyes once again.

“Sorry Coran,” Lance mumbled, walking away from the door. He stared down at the floor in shame, trying to ignore the stray drops that splattered on the floor. “I’ll… I’ll be in my room.”

Before he even got halfway there, a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Seriously, what is up with guys putting their hands on his shoulders? It was starting to get cliché at this point, but Lance decided not to care. _I’ll just go along with whatever the author of my depressing life story decides to write, I guess._ He thought.

“What’s wrong, my boy?” Coran asked, his voice softer and more concerned than Lance had ever heard before. He fucking lost it.

“Coran, I-” Lance began, tightening his fists. “It’s all my fault. He’s going to die, Coran. They all are, and it’s all because of me.”

“Lance, what happened?” Coran implored. “Who? What’s going on?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I tried to say anything.” Lance lamented. “You’ll think I’m just hallucinating. There’s no point in telling you.”

“Lance, tell me. Now.” He demanded, though his voice still had a touch of concern in it. “Even if it sounds crazy, I’ll listen. That’s what I’m here for. It can’t be anything too bad.”

The words invited Lance to spill all his secrets. He trusted Coran, that wasn’t a lie, but ranting about all of his new friends being in danger of death because he is supposedly super powerful? Sounds like a shitty youth adult novel plot. Still, it was hard bottling everything in. Lance couldn’t exactly pour his feelings out to someone at the house, he’s only known them for a few days for one, and for two, everyone was already aware of the situation and was too busy consulting with themselves or their gifted friends about it. Lance? All he had was Coran.

Lance took in a deep breath and whispered after a few moments of silence, “Do you promise you won’t make fun of me and at least try to believe it? Everything I’ll tell you is true, though it will sound like one of my maniac dreams.”

Coran nodded, smiling slightly. “Of course I will, lad. You seem upset about it. Let it all go, you seem to need it.”

Lance let it go so hard he could be considered the next Elsa.

The story slipped so fast from his mouth that he hardly registered what he was saying. Everything up from first finding the house to Lance leaving after everyone was grieving over the two gifteds and discussing the whole incident. At some point in the middle Lance caught himself talking about Keith. He probably did so for about ten minutes, letting all details about him known to the therapist. Right when he was about to call Keith cute for approximately the fifth time during that rant, he cleared his throat and continued his story. Occasionally Lance would get sidetracked and start talking about one of the other friends he made, but the only one he spent nearly as long crying about was Pidge. Poor, not-so-innocent Pidge. All broken, and there was nothing Lance could do to help them.

Towards the end, he became a sobbing wreck. His words were slurred from the intense cries he let out and only those who have seen Lance in that state many times before would have been able to understand them. The entire time Coran was silent, though his eyes grew wider with each passing second. At the mention of Allura he seemed to grow tense, as if he knew her from somewhere. Like they were classmates in high school or something. Probably not, considering Allura was hundreds of years old and Coran was only fifty-something.

After finishing his speech about Shiro, Lance was quiet for a couple minutes, sniffling and wiping away his tears.

“So,” He muttered. “How crazy do you think I am now?”

“Oh, Lance,” Coran said breathlessly. The moustached-man engulfed Lance in a tight bear hug. The latter immediately squeezed him back, crying on the grown man’s shoulder. There was seriously something up with shoulders. They’re the most depressing part of the body, apparently.

“I believe you.”

Lance pulled back in shock. “W-What? You- you believe _what?_ ” He stammered

“That you aren’t lying.”

The tan boy stared dumbfoundedly. His story enough was hard to comprehend, but someone legitimately believing him? That’s like getting God to twerk on a Sunday. Man, would Lance pay to see that.

“You- That doesn’t sound right.” Coran just sighed, leaning up against the kitchen counter.

“You’ve told me the craziest of the story, so I tell you mine. From the way you sound, you’re telling the truth. It would take a skilled author to come up with some story like that. I believe you, I promise.” He ruffled Lance’s hair, who relaxed under his hand on contact.

“How do you know Allura?”

The question seemed to take Coran by surprise. The old man froze.

“I- Back at the house-” He shook his head. “That’s not important right now. You’ll find out later. Now, can you try to get cleaned up a little bit? We’re going to leave this hotel for a few hours.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

“Why did you accept the news so quickly?”

“I told you, Lance, it’s because you sounded so real-”

“That’s not all, is it?” Lance stared hard at Coran, his eyes never leaving his face. He wanted the elder man to feel uncomfortable enough that he caves in. If that doesn’t work, there’s always guilt tripping. “Please don’t keep anything from me, Coran. I don’t want to be lied to.”

“Like I-”

“What happened with the house, Coran? You’ve been there before, haven’t you?” Those were hardly questions, more like demands. Coran was sweating, though he couldn't help but cave in. Lance had been through so much, he might as well give him beneficial information.

“I’m gifted too, Lance.”

If he had been drinking water, Lance would’ve spit it all on the floor. _What?!_ Lance’s eyes were so wide with shock he was surprised they didn’t pop out. There were so many thoughts and questions running through his mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to do anymore than stare at Coran in shocked silence.

“If it helps anymore, I also have the Sight.”

“WHAT?” Lance exclaimed. “Why did you never tell me?”

“Lad, telling you would make things even harder for you. It would probably break your mind, with you trying to make sense of it all. I had always suspected you had the Sight as well, and when you told me that you wanted to go to this island, I knew I had assumed correctly. Those with Sight don’t just see shadow monsters but have prophetic dreams as well. It would have been best for you to figure out all this on your own, and I would explain later, that was always my plan. It worked, you see.”

“Can you get to the part where you actually explain stuff?” Lance asked needingly. Coran nodded.

“When I was a young boy, about your age or so, I was really good friends with Allura. I had known her for roughly a year and we hung out as often as we could. We met at a job and worked together before she said she had to leave it. Anyways, one day we were taking a walk through a park, though I forgot which one. She and two of her friends were with me when I saw a monster. I told Allura and she seemed extremely surprised and scared. The monster had snuck up on us and no one noticed until I said something.

“The two friends turned around and recognised the shape of the shadow, though I saw the whole thing as it was. Allura asked me something like, ‘wait, what does it look like?’ It was bloody creepy and I can't describe it now without freaking out, but as her friends killed the monster she realised I was one of them.

“I had no connection to my family. They all died in an accident a few years prior to the monster attack, according to the police. After they killed the monster, Allura explained what was going on and that I actually have a rare and important gift. She told me about the house and I was teleported to it immediately. It didn't take long for me to get used to it as I was always a big believer in fairy tales. For a long time, I was happy there. There were never any major monster attacks and I felt safe.”

“Then why did you leave?” Coran sighed, clearly not wanting to answer the question.

“That, Lance, is a story for another day. Though I will say I wanted a life outside of the house. I wanted to become a therapist and search for those like me whose mental illnesses had been partially caused by gifts. I guess I hit the jackpot with you.”

“Did the-”

“Look, Lance, I don't feel like talking about it anymore, okay? For now, let’s just enjoy ourselves. Go rest up for a tick, then we’ll get off the island, alright?” Lance nodded, not wanting to push Coran any further. He walked off to his room and flopped down onto his bed, kicking the door shut.

He began to break down sobbing again. Lance wondered how he still had any tears left. _Today has just been out to get me, huh,_ He thought, wiping his tears on a pillow. _I shouldn't have came here, if I didn’t, Pidge and Keith would still be alive._

“Pidge,” He whimpered. “I know you can’t hear me, but I hope you can forgive me when you wake up. I know it's my fault, and asking you to forgive me is selfish, but please try. I feel guilty, you know. So freaking guilty. We’ll play Mario Cart once you wake up, I promise. I’m going to kick your ass, okay? I won't have to suck Keith off, I would make you do it as punishment for losing but I don't want to torture him with a gremlin. No offense,” Lance chuckled, wiping away a stray tear.

“Keith, if you're already dead and listening to me in whatever afterlife is out there, I hope you know that I wish I was in your place. It's what I deserve for hurting Pidge, along with a lot of other crap I've done that you don't know about. If you are still alive, well, I’ll try my best to save you. Matt’s already gone looking for you. We’re trying our best, even if you aren't here anymore. I tried, Keith, I want you to know that. I'm sorry I'm still alive when I should be dead instead of you. I don't know if you're dead or not, but if you are still alive,” Lance sniffled. “I promise I'm going to find you.”

 

* * *

 

“We’re here,”

Lance had fallen asleep on the trip mainland, and he had no idea how long he’d been out. Half an hour? One? Two, maybe? He didn't care and just stared out the window, taking in the sight of a giant building. After a moment of staring, he recognised it to be a mall.

“You brought me to a mall?” Lance asked, his eyebrows arching up. Coran just shrugged.

“There’s nothing a little Hot Topic can't fix.” At his reply, Lance couldn't help but laugh.

“You aren't wrong about that.” He hopped out of the cab and slammed the door, smiling. _What did humans do to deserve such an gorgeous man,_ Lance thought.

The mall was even bigger on the inside. They had parked right near the food court entrance, and when Lance entered he was hit by a variety of amazing smells. Chatter rang throughout the vast food court and Lance heard his stomach grumbling.

Coran seemed to have noticed, because he asked, “Do you want something?” The tan teen smirked in reply.

“Hell yeah I do.”

After what felt like years of trying to find what exactly he wanted (though it was really only 10 minutes), Lance settled on some teriyaki chicken, sushi, and rice. Coran got some weird combination of food that looked as if it were from some alien planet, but since it smelled good Lance decided not to question it. He dug into his food, trying to eat away the negative thoughts. It, of course failed.

Lance had gotten Japanese  
food. Keith was Japanese, or at least some part of it. Half, maybe. _Lance, you came here to forget about Keith. Not remember him,_ He reminded himself.

 _But Keith would enjoy this,_ His mind replied. _Quit stereotyping asians, it’s rude._

_He would-_

“Can you shut up?”

Coran jumped a little, and judging by the look on his face the old man was startled. The room seemed to warm up five degrees.

“Sorry, just talking to myself.” Lance dismissed, waving his hand as he shoved more rice into his mouth. The two ate in silence, apart from Coran sharing random tidbits of information about his past with Allura ever-so-often.

After about fifteen minutes, the two had finished. Lance wanted to wander around the mall, checking out the shops. Coran agreed, saying that he’d do anything Lance wanted that day.

“Coran! Can we go in there?” Lance asked, his eyes sparkling. He had found what he’d been searching for the whole time- Sephora. Lance wanted to get some makeup, obviously. _It’s not exactly socially acceptable for guys to wear makeup, though._

“Sure, why not?” Coran said with a smile. Lance bolted into Sephora, momentarily forgetting about the older man. _God, I haven’t been here in forever!_ Lance thought, grinning to himself as he walked over to the eyeshadow section. He saw a certain natural eyeshadow palette that caught his eye and picked it up, observing it. Lance saw a different palette he liked, this time with pastel colours.

Then he saw a giant palette that including both and much more. He excitedly put down the other two and picked up the giant one. The colours were amazing and would work well with his skin tone.

“Excuse me, miss?” A voice said behind Lance, startling him. He turned around to face her and grinned. She was fairly pretty, pale skin and wavy black hair with her makeup looking as if Aphrodite had done it. When she noticed Lance was not as feminine as she probably thought, her ears turned red. Lance chuckled and replied,

“I’m a guy, but I do love wearing makeup. It’s gender-neutral, after all, and I love to feel pretty every once in awhile.” She smiled at his response.

“R-Right, right. Anyways, do you need anything, sir?” She asked.

“Um, yes, actually. Can you tell me the price of this?” Lance handed her the palette. After a moment of looking over it, she gave him the price. Lance involuntarily frowned.

“Thank you, princess, though it is not exactly the cheapest thing in the store.”

“Yeah, I guess it isn’t.” She replied. Lance looked down at her nametag and saw the name _Marissa_ embedded onto it, along with a small heart. “Can you not call me princess, though? My girlfriend is the manager, and if she overheard she might kick you out of the store. She’s kinda protective of me, it’s cute.”

Lance finger-gunned her and winked. “Got’cha.” At that moment, Coran decided to show up.

“Lance, try not to run away from me again, okay? I looked around the whole store for you!” He looked down at the palette which Marissa had returned to Lance’s hands.

“Found something you like?” Lance nodded and told him the price. Coran’s face paled.

“W-Well, I guess I’ll get you that, but try not to get much else, okay? It’s pretty expensive.” Lance beamed and gave him a bear hug.

“Thanks, Coran. You’re the best.” The redhead chuckled and hugged him back.

“Anything for you, my boy.”

The two parted and Coran paid for the palette, along with some lip gloss and eyeliner Lance found that was on sale. The two walked out of Sephora, Lance chattering excitedly about all the new looks he was going to try once they got back to the hotel.

Then, he stopped once he saw a certain someone heading towards the store.

That certain someone? Allura, in all her beautiful, ymbryne glory.

Coran seemed to have noticed her as well, as he froze too, eyes locked on the time manipulator. “Oh, quiznak,” He whispered.

Breaking out of his trance, Lance shouted, “Allura!” The dark-skinned girl heard him and turned her head his way, slowing her walk.

“Lance?” She asked, surprised. Then, she noticed the figure beside the said teen, too.

“Coran?”

Tears formed in Allura’s eyes. A wave of emotion passed over her face- hatred, fear, shock, love, happiness, sadness- and she ran, nearly knocking him over in a hug.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” She sobbed, wiping her nose. “For the longest time, I was cross at you for leaving. I swore that if I ever saw you again, I would kick you in the arse, but now,” Allura looked over at Lance and smiled. “Now we have Lance. He mentioned you once before, but I didn’t- I couldn’t believe-”

“I missed you too, Allura,” Coran replied, hugging her back. Lance thought it looked kind of weird that his 50-something year-old therapist was hugging a ymbryne, who is hundreds of years old but looks twenty. She looks like someone out of those “Dermatologists hate her!” advertisements. Lance imagined it and laughed.

“You know why Ieft, and I can’t blame you for despising me, but I hope you aren’t too angry. I practically raised Lance, after all.” The two broke their hug, though Allura’s hands gently rested on Coran’s shoulders.

“Yes, you did. Good job on spotting him, we really need him in the future, especially now.”

“So I heard. Lance told me about the galra incident. How is the planning going?” Allura’s expression darkened.

“This telekinetic, Matt, is going to leave on a scouting mission in a few days. His sibling, Pidge, is in a coma. I’m guessing he wants to distract himself by feeling useful. You of all people should know how he’s feeling.”

Lance was beginning to feel awkward. The whole reunion felt too personal for him to be listening to. People had begun to steer in a wide arc around them, clearly feeling the same way.

“I’m gonna go,” Lance announced, backing of towards the washrooms. Coran briefly nodded in his direction. _I don’t know if he heard me or not, but I’ll take it._ He bolted inside of the washrooms.

Lance didn’t know how long he was in there, all he knew was that they needed some alone time, if you could even call it that at a mall. He hoisted himself up on the sink counters, ignoring the judgemental looks from pissy adults who were probably transphobic and didn’t like the idea that men could go to Sephora. Lance just leaned against the mirror and played Love Live School Idol Festival, acting like he didn’t give a damn about the way people glared, though in reality he did. He was just skilled in hiding it behind Beat in Angel on master.

After completing about 30 songs (though, really, an employee told him to leave since he wasn’t taking a shit), Lance left the bathroom. Allura and Coran were sitting at benches right beside it, and when they noticed him they both smiled. Lance saw that Allura had a couple Sephora bags, so apparently she got her shopping done. Damn, how long had he been in there?

“Look, Lance,” Allura spoke. “You don’t need to worry too much, okay? You’ll find Keith, I promise.” Lance was taken aback by her words.

“I wasn’t-”

“Lance, I know how you are. Something goes wrong and you blame yourself. It isn’t your fault, okay lad?” Coran chimed in, and Lance involuntarily clenched his fists. “Keith and Pidge are tough little chaps.” _Little is correct,_ Lance thought. _If they knew I thought that, they’d kill me if they aren’t already dead. Scratch that, their ghosts would do it still._

“They’re going to be okay.”

“But what if they aren’t?” Lance snapped. “Pidge could never wake up. Keith could be murdered. Don’t try to sugarcoat the situation, it’s not going to change the fact that I fucked up.”

“You-”

“Just drop it, okay?” He saw the concerned look in their eyes and felt slightly guilty. “We’ll try our best, I don’t doubt that. Just don’t get my hopes up, it will only make things more painful in the end.”

Allura closed her eyes and sighed. “I understand you’re upset, but try not to get so jumpy whenever we mention one of them. That kind of acting will endanger the mission.” She patted him on the back. “I know you want to help those two, and so do I, but no help will come out of it if you can’t function whenever you see something that reminds you of them. Matt will leave in a few days, and once we get a solid report from him, the search party will be on there way. I know you can save them, just believe in yourself a little, okay?”

Lance knew there was no point in arguing. He could try, but Allura would probably beat agreement out of him. Lance took in a deep breath and answered,

“Okay.”

 

* * *

 

Lance tapped his fingers impatiently on the side of his chair. Matt was getting ready to leave, apparently getting all of his needs together, which Lance assumed were weapons and other things to help him on the mission. He was supposed to come down and give everyone telepathy runes, which would take a while. Matt had studied the data he had about the headquarters and explained that the best time to go would be around seven in the morning, when all of the night shift officers left and the day shift ones were just arriving. He would find an abandoned cell and sleep there every two days if he wasn’t captured by then. After getting clear information on Keith’s whereabouts, the rest of the search party would dispatch. Allura had said yesterday it would be roughly two or three days if it all works out. Knowing his luck, it won’t, but Lance decided to hope for the best.

“I’m ready!” Matt announced from the top of the staircase. All of the heads turned up and smiled at him as he ran down the stairs. Matt made his way to the centre of the room. He acted confident, but Lance could see the subtle shaking of his limbs.

“Alright, everyone. As you all know, in a few moments, I’m leaving for the galra headquarters. It’s going to be dangerous, I know, but you have to trust me. I’m going to find Keith, and our wonderful search party is going to save him.” Matt looked Shiro’s way and smiled at him softly. Shiro returned the smile, though it was a lot more casual and supportive. “I promise I’ll do my best to find him, and when I do, he’ll be safe. I can do this. _We_ can do this. For Keith!”

A chorus of _For Keith!_ ’s echoed around the room. After it died down, Matt continued speaking.

“I’m going to give everyone a telepathy rune, and I will report to everyone at least every one to two hours. If- knock on wood- I get hurt and don’t have the power to talk to everyone, I will alert one of the members of the search party or Allura.” Once again, Matt locked eyes with Shiro. He looked like he was about to cry. _God,_ Lance thought. _They must be pretty close for Matt to trust him like that._ “Everyone, line up so I can give you your rune!”

Matt seemed to be well-respected. Everyone lined up with minimal pushing and shoving. Lance was somewhere in the middle, trying not to think about how claustrophobic he was. He instead focused on each person getting their runes. It took about five seconds each, and once each person was done they wandered off somewhere. When Matt got to Shiro, though, he held his hand a little longer than everyone else and stared into his eyes. Matt whispered something Lance couldn’t hear and let go of Shiro’s hand and gaze, then went on to the next person. Before he realised it, it was Lance’s turn.

“I still get one?” He asked. Matt chuckled and replied,

“Of course you do. You’re as important to this team as anyone else is.” He took Lance’s hand and proceeded to draw the rune on with some sort of stele. Lance tried his best not to wince. Getting the rune stung, as it was more long-term than the one when the galra attacked. It was only supposed to last around half of a day, but Sendak made it last even less.

Matt dropped Lance’s hand as soon as he finished drawing it. “There, you’re good now.” Lance took that as his cue to leave, but he just couldn’t.

“Did you finish saying goodbye to Pidge?”

At his question, Matt’s eyes widened. Then, sadness filled his face once again. “I don’t think I could ever be done.”

 _Well that was depressing._ Lance thought. Instead of going of to who-knows-where like the others, he sat back in his chair from before. Matt finished roughly ten minutes later, when Allura reappeared with the stones. Lance remembered Matt telling him about Allura’s inability to bare runes, which is why she wasn’t attending the ceremony-like thing earlier. Most likely preparing stuff for Matt’s… trip. Hunk appeared a few seconds later, followed by everyone else on the search party minutes later. Matt seemed to be searching for someone, and when Shiro- the last to enter- came in, his eyes seemed to light up a little.

“I called everyone down here to say goodbyes.” Allura explained. “I have a little more information about this mission than what I told everyone.”

“What is it?” Nyma asked, stepping forward. “Is it good or bad?”

Allura sighed. “You know, I can’t really tell anymore. When you get there, Shiro will know a rough layout, though he only knows the western and northern parts. The arrival area is in the eastern side, as that is the least occupied. Keith should be somewhere in the west or north.”

“I’ll do my best to navigate around the cells, but there’s too many for me to be perfectly comfortable with the area.” Shiro came in. “I only know my cell hall and the few surrounding it. In the northern area is where the gladiator ring is. Keith could be fighting against a galra, or even worse, another prisoner.” He shuddered, his voice dropping at the last two words, though everyone present could hear the sadness in his voice. Matt gripped Shiro’s hand and looked into his eyes.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Matt whispered. “I want what makes you feel most mentally healthy.” Shiro gave Matt a smile and patted his back.

“Thanks, Matty, you’re the best.” Matt broke out into a blush and stepped back.

“Anyways, Shiro knows the place when he was… there before. He was in a similar situation as Keith, though Keith is in even more danger. They’ll try to force information out of him. I trust he’ll give them Operation Kerberos instead of the actual house location if interrogated, so I’m going to have everyone not in the search party prepared to fight.”

“What’s Operation Kerberos?” Lance asked. “Does it have to do with the moon?”

Shay shrugged. “Not the Kerberos moon, no, but it’s an attack plan set in the night, which is when the galra would attack due to the shadows being less visible.” She answered and patted Lance on the back. “Don’t worry too much, the house will be safe. We can do this.”

The air in the room seemed much calmer after the Shay’s short speech. She had a calming effect on people, no magic needed, just her personality. Lance admitted to himself that he was a little envious.

“Well,” Matt broke in the silence. “I need to leave now.” A chorus of muffled _‘right’_ s and _‘bye’_ s came from the group. It died down quickly, however, and Allura said her final words to Matt.

“Be safe, okay?” She asked, pressing the stones into his hands. “I believe you can do this. Try your best and you will succeed. Goodbye, Matt.”

Everyone else said their goodbyes, and Matt hugged and briefly thanked them. Except for Shiro, which he clung onto a little longer.

“I’ll miss you,” Matt whispered, though it sounded slurred with his face pressed up against Shiro’s chest. The taller male ruffled Matt’s hair.

“I will, too. You can do this, okay?” Matt looked up and nodded.

“I’ll try my best.”

Everyone stepped back around 5 feet, making sure they weren't caught in the blast from the stones. Taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes, Matt threw the stones. One second, he was there. Then a bright flash overtook the room and when it faded, he was gone. Lance's heart lurched. It looked all too similar to when Keith disappeared.

The room was silent for a few moments. Whether it was from thinking or waiting, Lance did not know. Then Matt’s voice came in.

 _I’m here guys,_ His voice rang. A sigh of relief went through the search party members. _I’ll contact you later, this hall has a bunch of soldiers about to come through. I’ll be fine, just a little hiding._

“I’m going to see Pidge, tell them about the situation, y’know.” Lance announced and turned away. He doesn’t know what motivated him to say that, maybe because Matt disappeared in that very room and it looked almost exactly like when Keith disappeared? Not the thing you want to stand around and stare at for a while.

 _I’ll see you soon, Matt._ Lance answered as he walked. Before he realised it, he was at the infirmary.

It looked exactly like a hospital room, no surprise. All white walls, a plain bed, some of those bag things Lance thought was plasma and a heart monitor. The heartbeat was slower than usual for a human- though, recently, Lance was questioning what that really meant.

“Came to check up on them?”

A voice startled Lance. He hadn’t noticed it before, but there was someone else in the room- a healer, Lance assumed. They had dirty blond hair that fell to their shoulders and soft hazel eyes.

“Sawyer, right?” He asked. They nodded.

“Well, Pidge is in a coma.”

Lance’s heart lurched. He had figured as much already, though having it confirmed by an actual healer made it seem real. _I can’t believe it,_ Lance thought, staring at the limp body as their chest rose and fell slowly. He knew that he _could_ believe it, he just didn't want to.

“Also, I’m not a healer. I can tell what people’s health is like, but I can’t actually heal. Even the best healers can’t fix them for a while. It will be weeks before they actually wake up, and even if they do, I can’t say they will be completely right in the head.”

“What do you expect to happen?”

“At best, a lot of nausea and tiredness.”

“What about worse?”

Sawyer froze, gulping. Their hands began to rub the hem of their shirt back and forth.

“There’s a chance of permanent brain damage.” They said after a moment of hesitation, avoiding Lance’s gaze boring into their face.

“There’s something you aren’t telling me.” Lance replied, his temper rising. He wasn’t upset with Sawyer, no, he was angry with himself.

“That’s-” Sawyer began, but stopped, wary of the latter’s reaction.

“What the fuck are you keeping from me?” Lance snapped, making the poor child jump. They took in a moment to think- still debating to speak, Lance concluded.

“If Pidge wakes up, which, hopefully they do, it would be quite unfortunate if-”

“What’s wrong with them?” He demanded. _I’ve had enough of things being kept from me._

“There’s a fifty-percent chance of Pidge having amnesia.” Sawyer blurted quickly. Their face flushed afterwards and they stared down at the floor.

Lance stared at Pidge, stunned. He had no idea how long he stood there; Minutes? Hours? Some time later, the sadness finally swept in. He sank to the floor and cried. The cries turned into sobs.

“I’m sorry,” Sawyer whispered. “You told me you wanted to hear it, so I-”

“It’s not your fault,” Lance muttered, wiping tears off his face. “It’s mine.”

“It was an accident,” Sawyer replied. “They’ll wake up.”

“Don’t say shit you don’t mean, child. Quit trying to make me feel better. I hate those who sugarcoat things and lie to make me feel happy.” He shouted. Sawyer visibly flinched, and Lance felt guilty.

“I’ve come to accept I’m not meant to be happy, so don’t even try to make me feel that way. It will just make things worse.”

“Lance, you deserve happiness.” A voice said, one that hadn’t been in the room a moment before. Lance turned around.

Standing right by the doorway was Hunk. Soft, lovable Hunk. Lance ran to him and squeezed his body tightly. Hunk immediately responded, hugging him back.

“I was standing outside listening for a few moments. I… I heard everything.”

Lance parted from the hug and looked up at Hunk. He hadn’t noticed it before, but the big guy had been crying. His nose was slightly red, as were his eyes and cheeks, though an effort was made in wiping away the tears to comfort Lance.

 _What did I do to deserve this boy,_ Lance thought.

“Are you okay? I mean, of course you aren’t _okay_ , but do you need to talk about it?” Hunk stuttered, twiddling his fingers nervously. Lance sniffled and wiped his nose. His eyes stung, and he wanted so _badly_ to continue to indulge in his hurt, but he knew that Hunk was definitely feeling a lot worse than him.

“Hunk, you’re the one that needs to rant. You’re such a kind guy, please let me give you the chance to rant that you deserve.” Lance replied, smiling at him.

Hunk seemed to be thankful. Really thankful. He busted out into tears, and pulled Lance back into his embrace, muttering many incoherent _thank you_ s.

Sawyer, who was feeling pretty awkward, pulled chairs up for the two of them to sit in. They excused themselves and walked out of the room to let the two friends talk in private, actions met only with a small nod from Lance (which was quite hard from the tight hug he was in, not that Lance was complaining).

They sat down a few moments later, Hunk wiping away his tears with his shirt.

“I don’t like to cry in front of people. I usually try to act strong around others, so this feels a little weird for me, you get that?” Hunk said, looking at Lance, who nodded.

“Me neither, but I usually do in front of my moms or therapist.”

Hunk laughed, the beautiful sound causing Lance to do the same.

“At least you’re honest about it.” Hunk replied. “I’m usually the go-to person whenever a friend has problems. I act strong for them because I don’t want them to get worried about me.”

“Can I come to you with problems?” Lance asked. “I’ll even let you rant about yours, if you’d wish.” Hunk chuckled once again, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

“Of course you can.”

“For now, though, it’s your turn. Go ahead and spill.” Lance invited. Hunk looked a little hesitant at first, but did it nevertheless.

“Pidge and I have been friends for as long as I can remember. They’re the one who found me and brought me to the house. I was always amazing at inventing things and won many awards, not trying to brag.”

“You aren’t.”

“Anyways, I was out with my family one day. I had one first prize for an invention at some type of con thing, and my family and I were at the park. We were just enjoying ourselves, having fun together as a family. All of a sudden, everyone around us just _froze_. Including my parents. The galra seemed to come out of nowhere. Before I knew it, everyone around us had been massacred. The galra threatened to kill my family if I didn’t go with them and use my gift for their use.” Lance scarcely remembered something about a serial killer who still hadn’t been caught even after a few years of the murder of around 15 people. 

“l did something stupid. I told the galra they could never hurt my family because I wouldn’t let them. The galrans sneered at me and to prove a point, they- they slaughtered-” Hunk broke into tears. Lance reached over and ran his fingers through his hair. After a moment, Hunk seemed to have calmed down.

“They killed them. Right in front of me, laughing like it was nothing.” Hunk continued. “I was horrified, frozen in fear and shock. After that, I became angry, ruthless. I took the thing I won the prize for and turned it into a weapon.”

“Did you cut their limbs off?” Lance asked. Hunk shook his head, but it also looked like he was _smiling?_ Weird.

“I stabbed them to death.”

Lance’s eyes widened. “You _stabbed_ them?” Hunk grinned.

“They hurt people I loved. It’s what they deserved. I don’t like killing just anybody, though they were buttholes.”

Lance smiled and patted Hunk on the back. “Didn’t think you had it in you, buddy. From what I’ve seen, all galrans are asses. Good job, Hunk.” The taller boy was beaming. It’s a weird thought to think that one of the most precious people you know will literally kill a man when it comes to those you love, but hey, Lance wasn’t complaining.

“How did you meet Pidge?” Lance asked. He didn’t know whether it was a safe topic to approach at the moment, but judging by Hunk’s face it was fine.

“They were in the park as well. The only people not frozen were those with a gift. Pidge had been out in town to get something for Matt, and was stopping by the park to walk their dog Rover. Their gift warned them that the galra were approaching about five seconds before they arrived. They hid behind a bush with Rover and put a protective shield around them and their dog that made the gift-tracking devices stop working. They watched the whole thing happen and were frozen in fear.

"After they were sure there were no galrans around, they came over and talked to me. Pidge said there was a place that could protect me against those monsters and teach me how to fight better against them.”

“I thought that you couldn’t use your gift for combat yourself?” Lance asked curiously. Hunk’s face turned grim.

“When I stabbed them- there were only two galrans- they cursed me as they died. Said I was never allowed to use my gift for myself again. A regular galra curse can be broken, but they were both sorcerers. That curse can never be broken.”

“I’m sorry, Hunk.” Lance whispered. The said boy shook his head.

“It’s fine. I wouldn’t have been good at close combat, anyways. The only reason they died is because I took them by surprise.

“Pidge found me around fifteen years ago and brought me to the house. I had no trouble believing anything. That kind of thing can not be imagined.”

“How old were you when you were found?”

“Fourteen,” Hunk responded. “I’m seventeen now, from what I aged. I wanted to graduate high school, which I was allowed to, though Pidge kept tab on me constantly to make sure I wasn’t in any danger.”

“Isn’t that kind of annoying?” Hunk shook his head.

“Pidge has always been there for me, always great at lightening the mood. They were a child genius and graduated high school when they were thirteen. Most people here didn’t get to finish school, though. Pidge gave me the answers on some finals, with some bribing from Matt for telepathy runes. That’s how I graduated a year early.”

“What did you do at the house?”

“Pidge was my first friend here,” Hunk explained. “The… _incident_ happened the day after school let out. I stayed at the house for the rest of the summer before going back, though I went home to the house at night to sleep. One of the housemates could teleport people and objects, so they got me to school on time. That’s pretty much how I spent my time.

“During the summer I would stay at the house, leaving pretty much everyday to go hang out with friends outside of it. The main reason was that so I would still age properly enough for it not to seem suspicious to anyone undercover in school, which probably were there, considering the galra seemed to want me so badly. After the incident, though, there were no attacks or galra sightings for years. We’ve been in a period of peace for over a decade, which seems suspicious, but instead of worrying we all just enjoy it. It’s the best thing to do, though Keith seems to have more fun coming up with conspiracies about what the galra are up to. Seems like he’s about to find out.”

The speed at which the mood in the room went from carefree to depressing was honestly startling. Lance snuck a glance back at Pidge and their heart monitor, which appeared to have been slower than it was a few minutes ago. Lance suppressed a sob and turned back around, telling himself he was just imagining things.

“Pidge was always there for me.” Hunk began, and Lance was grateful for the subject change.

“For the first year or two after that happened, I would have constant nightmares and panic attacks. At first it was hard, but Pidge always came to help me, and eventually I came to them with my problems whenever something came up. Keith started to hang more around us, too, and I learned that he was just as trustworthy as Pidge.

“After about a year at the house, they ended up convincing me to make food. I don’t know how the topic came up, but all of a sudden they said  _‘hey, you should try making food!’_ and I agreed. Everyone loved it, and I started to make food for everyone. I didn’t mind, it was pretty fun, especially when Pidge and Keith helped me. It took a few years, but eventually they were able to break me out of my closely guarded shell and I got more friends. Then I met Shay.

“Shay was a new recruit. She came around twelve years ago, after accidentally discovering her gift, which she inherited from her grandmother. Her grandma used to go here but left to pursue life as a restaurant owner. Shay was able to talk to her grandma about it, and her grandma told her about the house. She brought Shay here and told us about her gift. Shay was accepted immediately; her grandmother used to be close to Allura, after all.

“Pidge and the others convinced her to help out with me in the kitchen, growing and picking out the freshest ingredients and all that. We connected really easily, and within a few months she became one of my closest friends. I found myself ranting about her to Pidge all the time, and they told me I had a crush on her. I denied it first, out of embarrassment, though it wasn’t her I was embarrassed about, but my schoolboy feelings. It took a while, but they eventually convinced me to ask her out.

“She said yes, of course, and apparently developed feelings for me shortly after we met. Either she was amazing at hiding it or I’m really dense, but I doubt that matters much. We’ve been together for over ten years.” Hunk stopped himself, flushed, and buried his face in his hands.

“That was probably really cheesy, sorry.” Hunk muttered between his hands. Lance laughed and patted his back.

“It’s okay, man. That was actually super sweet, honestly. If all men cared about their girlfriends that much, the world would be a much better place.” Lance replied with a smile. _God, could this man get anymore perfect? He is a gift from the heavens I swear._

Hunk took his hands off his face and gave Lance a smile. His cheeks were still tinted pink. “Thanks, Lance. That really means a lot.”

“No problem.” He replied. “On another subject, if I was _that_ upset about Pidge, I can’t imagine how much I you’re hurting. I admire you, really.” Several emotions crossed Hunk’s face.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

A few moments passed in silence, and Lance couldn’t tell if it was out of awkwardness or not knowing what to say. Eventually, he spoke up.

“I wish I had known Keith longer.”

Hunk arched an eyebrow out of curiosity. “Why so?”

“He seems like a pretty amazing guy, honestly. After all, who would just sacrifice themselves for me?”

“He’s reckless and impulsive, that’s what he is.” Hunk commented. “Brave of him to do, but still doesn’t make up for the fact that he practically thrust himself into death’s clutches.”

“Exactly. Keith’s a hot-headed asshole, but he still did that, even if it was out of impulse. Not saying he’s the best person out there, but that was still something.”

“I think that pretty much describes everyone’s view on the situation.”

Lance smirked on stood on top of his chair, one hand on his hip and the other pointing high in the air.

“It as just as the gods foretold. I am the true genius of this generation! I will save the world with my amazing smartness!” Lance proclaimed.

Hunk busted out laughing. Lance’s gaze turned to him and he reached out his hand.

“Take it, Hunk. I shall rule the world and you will bake me treats to give to our loyal subjects!”

“I assume we’ll eat some for ourselves.” Hunk said after his laughs died down enough to speak without choking on air.

“Hell yeah we will.” Lance replied. He leaned down further, waiting for his kind baker to grab it. “So, what do you-”

Gravity took its toll on Lance and he toppled off of the chair, falling onto Hunk. They both busted out into laughter.

“You okay?” Lance asked after a moment of just laying there on top of the heavier boy.

“Yeah,” Hunk replied, still not moving. Lance could feel his chest rising and falling against his back. “With the amount of times Pidge and Shay have jumped me, nothing like this really hurts me.”

“Shay?” Lance said, not being able to help but feeling a little surprised. Hunk chuckled.

“She’s usually calm and sweet, but when she’s excited I brace for impact.” Lance nodded and rolled off of Hunk’s body lazily, plopping onto the floor beside him.

“So,” Hunk spoke after a moment of laying wordlessly on the hard floor. “Wanna go ahead and start making the treats for our empire?”

Lance sat up and grinned, locking eyes with Hunk. “You bet I do.”

He smiled back then stood up to his feet, proceeding to stretch his arms up. Lance followed suit and looked at Hunk.

“Let’s go save the world.” He said, as he began to walk towards the door.

Hunk followed him, replying, “I don’t think food can do that.”

Lance lightly shoved his friend’s shoulder. “Don’t be so pessimistic. People can starve to death. You can give your food to starving people for free and save their lives!”

With that, Hunk smiled. “I guess I could.”

 _The world really doesn’t deserve a boy like Hunk. He must really love helping people._ Lance thought as they walked toward the kitchen.

After a moment of comfortable silence, Hunk spoke.

“You and Keith would be perfect for each other.”

Lance turned his head to look at Hunk and arched an eyebrow. “What do you-”

“Door,” Hunk said, right before Lance ran into the door frame. He groaned and rubbed his shoulder.

“I’m fine,” Lance said, moving out of the way. Hunk was smiling at him.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Are you laughing?”

“No comment.” Hunk shrugged and turned back around, continuing to walk. They went through the hallway, which opened up into the corridor of the main room where Matt had marked everyone with runes.

“What did you mean earlier?” Lance asked.

“About you and Keith, right?”

Lance nodded.

“I’ll let you find out for yourself.” Hunk said, a small smile on his face. “I will say, that although you are a lot different, you do have similarities that will help you get along.”

“Are you saying that we would make a good team?”

Hunk stopped, for they had just entered the kitchen. “Sure, if that’s what you want to interpret that as.” He walked over to the counter and crouched down, pulling a few pans and bowls out of the cabinet. “Are cookies okay? I have a great snickerdoodle recipe.”

Lance smiled. “Yeah, that sounds yummy.”

He proceeded to get out all the ingredients and helped Hunk with whatever he asked. Exactly fourty-seven minutes later, the cookies were out of the oven and cooling. It would have taken less than thirty, but a little incident with the eggs and Lance eating half of the cookie dough batch caused them to take forever.

Eventually, the cookies were finished, and several of the housemates mobbed the kitchen to get some of Hunk’s goodness. Lance ate as well, making small talk about random shit, but the whole time one question refused to leave his mind.

_Keith, where are you?_

 

* * *

 

_Find me._

It all seemed to happen so fast. One second, they were fighting Sendak. The next, Lance was about to be kidnapped, and Sendak thought he was dead. In an impulsive, split-second decision, Keith tore free of his pain and took Lance’s place.

Now, he’s here.

The blinding light that had engulfed him lasted merely a second. It faded as quickly as it came. However, when the light faded, the pain came back. Keith fell out of Sendak’s arms onto the ground, gasping and gripping his shoulder. Blood pooled on the white tiles around him, pouring like a waterfall from his throat and shoulders, dripping like rain from his cheeks, jaw, and forehead. On top of that, there’s a high chance that the galra won’t treat him and leave even more wounds. Keith realised that this means his death will probably come about within the next two hours, if the galrans are feeling generous. Less than one if he’s honest.

 _I’m so fucked,_ Keith thought.

A claw gripped his shoulder and Keith hissed in pain, making fire erupt on his shoulder in a sad attempt to burn the galra. Only a weak flame was produced, though the action was enough to startle Sendak. Keith smirked and thought, _I’m not gonna die without throwing a fight and kicking ass._

“You’re not the Sight boy,” Sendak said, gripping Keith’s hair and yanking his head up to meet his eyes. More blood dripped out of his throat.

“Well no shit,” Keith spat. “I sacrificed myself for him.” He acted quickly, diving through Sendak’s legs, kicking the backs of his knees, causing the galra to fall forwards. Keith literally kicked his ass (kneeing it, really) and sat on top of his back. He wrapped his hands around Sendak’s throat, thumbs hovering against a key pressure point in a human’s neck that could easily knock a person out.

“Let’s see if a monster has the same pressure points as a person.” Keith growled into his ear. Sendak froze for a second and then began to chuckle.

“Aren’t you a feisty brat,” He said, pulling his arms out from underneath him and shoving Keith’s hands away. He tried to push the pyrokinectic, but Keith got off himself.

“Don’t touch me, you ugly piece of shit.”

Sendak said nothing in return, observing Keith’s appearance in false interest.

“Nice neck wounds you got there,” Sendak sarcastically stated.

“Thanks, I got them from an asshole.” Keith deadpanned. “I could give you some even deeper ones for free if you’re interested.”

Sendak crouched down to Keith’s level, locking eyes with him. He tried to avert his gaze, but the galra grabbed his chin and turned it back towards him.

“I could too,” Sendak began. “but that would mean you dying in a split second, and that wouldn’t be fun, now would it? It surely wouldn’t interest my comrades.”

“Those monsters you consider to be your friends?” Keith spat. “They’re all Zarkon’s bitches, even you. In fact, you’re probably his personal bitch, am I correct?”

Sendak snarled and slapped Keith, whose nose began to bleed with the added impact.

“You better watch your mouth, or I swear to the stars above that I will end your life.” Sendak stood up, glare never falling off Keith. “Now, do you want to get your most vital injuries treated so you can have the shit tortured out of you, or would you rather continue to bitch and have me kill you instantly?”

Hesitantly, Keith stood up.

“I fucking hate you.”

That earned Keith a nice big punch in the stomach. He coughed up blood, lazily wiping his mouth afterwards.

“I will end your life as soon as I get the chance, I swear on everyone I love.”

A fist to the face.

“I will never-”

Side.

“Quit fighting-”

Kick in the crotch.

Keith winced.

“For them.”

Harsh shove to the floor. Keith tasted a metallic tang in his mouth, probably from busting his lip, biting his tongue, or both. Suddenly, a rag was tied around his face, blinding him; a gag that tasted like vomit was thrusted into his mouth, and Keith tried not to think of what the previous victim of this gag cloth had done. It would make things harder for him. Although Keith couldn’t see, he felt Sendak slap duct tape onto his mouth over the gag and smoothed it down. Keith thought he was going to began to be led by the galra to either an infirmary or prison cell, but the thought was interrupted by a jolt of pain as the duct tape piece that was covering his mouth was yanked off mercilessly. Keith screamed as loud as he could, though he knew no one would help. After all, every galra is on the side of torture and evil. A new piece of tape was replaced, and when Keith braced for impact once again, he was yanked by the arm and dragged down the floor.

Keith didn’t know how long and how far he kicked and screamed, though to him it felt like the whole galaxy heard his cries. Tears and blood spilled out from him, turning the ground red and slick.

Eventually he stopped, as he realised there was no point and that was _exactly_ how the galra wanted him to react. He started to think about the people at the house, what they feel now because of what he did to save Lance’s life.

 _They’re probably scared to death but angry at me at the same time._ Keith thought. _Allura’s probably going to kill me with lectures if I get back. Hunk would be nicer about it, I guess. Shiro’s going to guilt trip me. Hell, he’s probably already preparing his speeches right now. Pidge-_

Sendak kicked his back, involuntarily causing Keith to wince.

“You alive, little brat?” He asked. Keith nodded, which was painful in the position he was in. Everything stung or ached- in some places, both. He heard Sendak grunt and Keith continued to be dragged across the hallway.

 _Pidge is probably worse off than me. I just have a few cuts, while Pidge may not be alive._ Keith shook his head slightly. _I’m going to be optimistic for once and say they’re probably critically injured. I’m in no mood to think about that right now._

 _And Lance-_ Keith tried to stop himself from crying. The thought of everyone being upset because of him, feeling guilty because of him, was too much to handle. _I don’t even know how Lance feels. Would he be happy he isn’t dead or mad at me for taking his place? He seems like he only cares about himself sometimes, but does he really? He’s been nice to me before, so he might feel even more guilty than I do for hurting everyone._

_It’s better get myself killed rather than anyone else. If it had been anyone but me, I would’ve never forgiven myself._

_Does Lance feel the same way?_

Keith didn’t get the chance to assess the question before he was thrown onto some hard bed and the blindfold was ripped off of him. It took a few minutes and head shakes for his vision to clear up, and when it did, it was met by the glaring yellow eyes of a galra.

“Let’s get you fixed up now, shall we?” A new galra asked. Keith located Sendak, who was walking out of the cell, locking it behind him.

“I’m under strict orders to keep your gag and duct tape in and over your mouth so you don’t scream and distract me.” It said, reaching over to pick up what looked like the alien version of those blood replacement packets* (plasma bag i think. note- look up the actual name later).

“Let’s get you stitched up now, okay? Can’t have you bleeding to death before we torture the shit out of you.”

Keith realised now that he had been crying.

 

* * *

 

Time seemed to pass much slower in wherever-the-hell this place was.

Keith laid on the operating table for what felt like days. The unnamed galra had stitched up only the most likely areas that would cause problems and kill him before they were ready to “torture the shit out of him”, in the doctor’s words. It was hard to fall asleep during the operation, all the consistent poking and pulling reminded Keith of his current situation.

His eyes still fixed on the ceiling, Keith started thinking about how he would escape from here. Although he told Lance to find him, he knew that Lance wouldn’t come. He was too inexperienced with weapons and monsters to come here on his own, he’d get killed as soon as he landed in the building. It was also too dangerous of a mission for a team of people to try to rescue him. Aside from Pidge’s blueprints which haven’t even been confirmed, they had no way of knowing how to get around the castle. Allura would never risk it. He wasn’t that big of a deal.

“We’re done here.” The doctor said, hovering over Keith’s face. They ripped the duct tape off of his mouth and Keith took out the gag, throwing it across the room.

“None of you neck wounds were nothing we couldn’t handle. A few cuts here and there on no vital areas. Your face was scratched up, but I put some medicine on it to keep it from any major scarring. Your shoulders and other areas had to be stitched up and they shouldn’t open up again. I hope the pain was nice and kept you awake, we need all your senses at its peak for when we torture you!”

The doctor undid his bounds on the tables and Keith bolted up out of bed, ready to make a break for it. The sudden action caused him to get a headache, and black clouded his vision. Keith leaned against a wall for support and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to clear the sudden migraine.

“Do you really think I’d let you go so easily?” The galra chuckled as they walked towards him. They reached their hands out and attempted to grab Keith’s wrists. Keith whipped his hands behind his back and pressed them against the wall.

“Fuck off,” He spat.

“I can’t,” They replied, grabbing his shoulders. Keith yelped in pain and kicked the galra off of him. Their grip did release, though the kick seemed to have no other effect. “I’m the one that’s supposed to escort you to your torture chamber.”

They leaned in close to his face, to the point where it seemed they were about to kiss him. Keith nearly threw up. “Don’t make this difficult for yourself. It would only burden yourself.”

Keith gave up and allowed the galra to grab his wrist.

“I swear I’ll come with you,” He growled. “but don’t try to do anything on the way.”

“It’s the most we expected out of you,” Sighed the doctor. They yanked on his wrist and began walking with him. Keith followed without any protest, not in the mood to fight. He was just too tired to do anything but cooperate.

Keith kept his mind empty during the long walk to the torture chamber. His feet ached and his whole body was sore, despite all the doctor did for him. Which, all wasn’t much, but at least he wasn’t in immediate danger. He focused on nothing that wasn’t immediately going on in front of him. He’ll need to memorize his surroundings if he is to escape. That is, of course, assuming they let him out alive. _I can’t focus on negative options. I need to stay alive._ Keith thought.

_The most likely scenario is that after I’m done being tortured, they won’t have any current use for me and will throw me back into prison. Then, unless I prove to be useful, they’ll kill me in front of the others. The other scenario is they kill me as soon as I tell them all they need to know._

Keith studied the walls as he walked, trying to be as discreet as possible so his actions didn’t appear suspicious. The guards seemed to rotate posts every five minutes in a counterclockwise motion. There were also lines of three or four soldiers that walked in and out of halls, not stopping. There seemed to be some sort of pattern with the movements of the cameras, though Keith wasn't able to figure it out before he was yanked to a halt.

“We’re here. Maybe if you cooperate we won’t have to shock you too hard.” The galra said. Keith rolled his eyes. It was time to put up an act.

“I care more about my survival than anyone else’s. Everyone at the house can burn at my hand, for all I care, if it means I can get out of here.” He lied, staring the doctor straight in the eyes. Back at the house, he and many others were trained for situations like this. It’s never happened before, and no one had ever imagined that when it would, it would be Keith in the galra’s home turf.

This response obviously surprised to the doctor. Their eyes widened and a small, yet audible gasp was heard. They dropped his hand to pinch themselves. Keith could’ve run, he _wanted_ to run, but it wasn’t worth it. He had no room for any risks that could endanger those at the house. Deep down, Keith felt guilty for saying that, but he could never let it show to these monsters. It was too dangerous.

Slowly, the galra began to grin. “I guess that means you’ll work well with it. Good job, boy. You’ll be of great service to the galra empire.” They then walked forward and pressed their hand against a scanner. Seconds later the door clicked open and they walked inside, Keith following right behind the galra. They glanced back a few times to make sure he was still following, which he was. There was no other option.

The two of them entered a small chamber. A tall item which looked like an open coffin standing upright with metal straps in various areas stood in the centre of the room. Several other galrans stood around the chamber, there were chairs but no one was sitting down. One of them was hooking up the coffin-thing with a remote. On the back of the remote, a sticker that read **_DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE_** was plastered. Keith felt his stomach churn. _I’m about to throw up, blind these assholes and make a run for it._

One of the galrans turned and looked at the doctor. He smiled. “You brought the patient, right?”

The doctor clicked their tongue. “He’s right here,” They said, jabbing a finger at Keith’s face. The galran who spoke before them looked to where they were pointing.

Then something surprising to Keith occurred- the galran looked scared and shocked.

Keith couldn’t believe it. There was nothing terrifying about him. Sure he was gifted, but that was nothing compared to what the galra could do. They could murder him easily, with their numbers. The most he could do is burn some of their clothes.

“Thace? What’s going on?” They asked. The galran- Thace, as he was called- shook his head and returned his attention to the doctor.

“N-Nothing. He looked… weaker than I expected, that’s all.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive, doctor.”

The doctor didn’t appear to accept it, but left it unquestioned after his response. Keith didn’t buy it one bit. Something didn’t make sense, something he was never told. _If I make it out of this room alive, I will find out what he’s hiding._ Keith promised himself.

One of the galrans from across the room clasped his hands together. “Let’s get this over with already. I have business to attend to after this.”

“You mean continuing your pointless quest in trying to find Eris?” Another spoke, smirking.

“It isn’t pointless.” He huffed. “She was one of our best soldiers. I want her back.”

“What, so you can fuck her? You’ve always been jealous of her infatuation with Earth. She’s a traitor and she’s probably dead. No one’s been able to locate her for a long time.”

“She’s not dead.”

“She is dead, and she has been for a while! So shut your mouth or I’ll let you try out the machine and you can join Eris in hell.” He snapped, glaring at the previously speaking galran. He shut up, fidgeting with his clipboard.

“That’s what I thought.” He looked over in Keith’s direction. “Get over here so we can strap you in, boy. Doctor, you are dismissed.” The doctor nodded and walked out wordlessly. Ignoring the churning in his stomach and the sound of his mind screaming for him to run as quickly as possible, Keith walked over to where the coffin, or whatever it was, was standing.

“What the hell is this thing?” Keith asked. The galran who had dismissed the galra faced him and rolled his eyes.

“Your torture instrument, of course.” He replied. “Now get in before I force you.”

“Not until you tell me what it’s called. When I meet my comrades in hell, I want to give them details. One of them wants to be a writer. I want to give them an idea that will be a #1 Satan Times Bestseller.” Keith deadpanned, crossing his arms.

“It doesn’t matter. Call it whatever the fuck you want, just get in.”

“Does an Electric Coffin sound like a good name?”

“I don’t know, does it fucking matter? Now get in the damn machine!”

“Not until I get an answer.”

“FINE! Call it that! Just get in so I don’t have to deal with your aggravating ass any longer than I have to!” He snapped, pointing violently at the “Electric Coffin”. Keith smirked and got in, spreading his arms and legs to match the binds. He had succeeded in distracting and annoying who seemed to be the head of his torture. It will be much easier to push him over, now that he has a head start.

Thace pressed a button on the remote and the binds arched over his arms and legs, leaving no room for him to thrash around without getting injured. The leader walked forward to where he was standing right in front of Keith. The galran he had been arguing with about some Eris chick stood a few feet to his left, holding a clipboard.

“What’s your name?” The leader asked.

“I’m not telling you,” Keith singsonged, lifting his head up and smirking.

“Do you want me to kill you immediately? I was informed you didn’t have a death wish.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I always had a death wish. I still do. I wouldn’t be in this hell if I didn’t.” Keith thought for a moment, and then continued, saying,

“You know, it’s sad that some short puny teenager can piss you off so easily. I wonder how pissed off your leader would be if I informed him about how weak you are. If you shock me right now over a goddamn name, that will just prove me right.” He looked over to where the galran with the clipboard- a conspiracy theorist by the looks of it- and locked eyes with him.

“In fact, I probably don’t even have to, it seems pretty clear to me that there’s someone else who would willingly tell him.” The galran with whom his eyes were locked smiled a little bit at the thought and tried to hide it with his clipboard. Keith turned his gaze back to his torturer, whose mouth was agape and face flushed several shades dark.

“Thace,” He said, shaky. “Do it. Lowest setting.”

Thace looked nervous, but twisted the knobs and pressed a button. A slight shock touched his skin, but it was hardly more than when you’d get electrocuted via static electricity.

“I can do much more,” The leader threatened. “I’ll ask you again- what’s your name?”

“That’s not relevant. What you should be asking is why I’m here, why I gave myself up, why I’m not being difficult.”

“You consider _this_ to not be difficult?”

“I could have run away a long time ago. This,” Keith circled his wrists to illustrate. “is being cooperative considering everything else I could be doing.”

“So you’re here because of your death wish?”

“I’m here because he would have endangered me if he came. Led you all straight to me, never had had a chance a chance to survive.”

“Didn’t you say you had a death wish? Lying equals penalty here, you know.”

“I want to die by anything or anywhere but at your hand. Or in front of you. That’s downright disrespectful to satan.”

“Are you a Satanist?”

“Don’t see how that’s relevant, but he’s real and he would easily slaughter pussies like you all.”

The room went silent for a few moments. Keith clearly wasn’t what they expected to deal with at all. His responses- all made without thought- seemed to push just the right buttons. Keith never felt more satisfied with himself- other than the time where he successfully lured mothman into a trap and had a four hour conversation with the cryptid, that is.

The silence was broken when the galran with the clipboard asked if he should write all Keith said down.

“Write none of it except when I asked if he was here because of his ‘death wish’ and his response.” The leader said. He turned his attention back to Keith. “Hopefully I can get more _sensible_ answers out of you.”

“That’s only possible if you ask sensible questions, not like the irrelevant ones you’ve been asking.” Keith replied. The leader looked done with him and sighed deeply.

“Where is he at?” He asked. “The boy you replaced?”

“Earth, probably.” Keith answered. He gave a signal and Thace adjusted a knob, shocking him harder then last time. This time did make him wince, though.

“Give me the coordinates, brat.”

“Eleven point zero three to the second power two to the third power degrees north, seventeen point one hundred minus four nine zero two. All of the last number is multiplied by five and the answer is that degrees west.” Keith recited. Everyone at the house- minus Lance of course- had studied these coordinates and could say them without putting any thought into it. Even Ellie, who couldn't even solve the math, had it memorised. The coordinates were kind of a riddle that revolved around math. After the galra spent so much time stressing over what the answer was, they’d finally be relieved and attack immediately. Only figuring it out would take forever, and when the galra got there no one would even be there! Unless Allura decides to send out an ambush patrol and attack the galra, who think they can win easy because they believed Keith lead them right to them, and that thinking led them to bringing a smaller patrol.

The funny part was that the coordinates weren’t even for the island on which the house was located, but on an island of the same name a couple thousand islands away from that one. By the time the galra found out they were tricked, everyone at the house would already be prepared to fight. Keith sensed that a fight would happen soon, and the prophecy which Lance fulfilled confirmed it. _This is the day Operation Kerberos will finally begin._

“I asked you to give me the coordinates, not a puzzle.” The leader scowled. “Thace, do it again.”

Another shock ran through Keith’s body, which he ignored.

“I did give you the actual coordinates.” He replied. “Don’t be lazy, figure them out yourself. You have lots of time.”

“Ulaz, did you record all the coordinates?” The leader questioned.

“They’re all on my clipboard, sir.” Ulaz replied. “Every number word-for-word.”

“Good. Thace, turn up the wattage.” Thace followed the leader’s command and Keith instantly felt a sharp jolt of electricity course through his body. He let out a yelp of pain, some galrans in the room snickered.

“That’s just to let you know what will happen if you lie to us and we find out.” The leader said.

“I swear to whatever gods are out there that I didn’t lie. Those shocks fucking hurt.” Keith promised. Usually in situations where he was nervous Keith would clean out from under his fingernails with his teeth or something. The fact that his hands were bound and he couldn’t perform that small habit of his was unsettling.

“Now, what are you and the others with gifts plans against the great galra empire?”

Keith decided it was best to answer honestly. The torture was giving him flashbacks to past events that he would rather not think about.

“The house- where all of us gifteds stay- wasn’t expecting any attacks soon. They weren’t planning on attacking you any time soon, either. It would be way too dangerous. They’re probably pissed right now, but not insensible. It’s too dangerous to look for me. I never was close to anyone at the house, I hated everyone. I was planning on leaving soon, anyways, so this was kind of a fortunate occurrence.” The last two sentences were a lie, but Keith had to keep up the _‘I don’t give a shit about anyone’_ attitude if the plan were to seem authentic.

“What about that Sight boy? What do you feel for him?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He showed up out of the blue a few days ago. I hardly talked to him and he seems annoying. I took his place so I wouldn’t have to die at the hands, claws, doesn’t matter, of you shits.”

“Did you guys plan to use him as a weapon?”

“Him? A weapon?” Keith asked, acting shocked. “That child can hardly work a gun, he’d be useless in battle. Someday, maybe, but that would require years of training. He would hardly be effective. The way that kid is now, he wouldn’t survive a second in battle.” Keith felt himself convincing them. Then he sneezed. _I swear if that kitten sneeze ruined my chance I will come back in time and slap myself._ The galra didn’t seem to notice, though, and the leader continued with his questioning.

“Do you swear that everything you just said is the truth?”

“I swear.”

A shock, even more powerful than the last, suddenly pierced every last millimetre of his body. The pain was unbearable and Keith screamed as loud as he could, trying to burn off the bindings, but it was no use. The electric coffin probably had some gift-away magic on it. _Great._

“I said, do you swear that everything you just said is the truth?” The leader repeated, staring at Keith.

“I… swear…” Keith gasped in between screams. The current finally stopped, and Keith gasped in air, trying to clear his systems before he went into cardiac arrest or something. His head was pounding and every square centimetre of his body ached. There were no words to describe how he was feeling. The pain was just too much for him to handle.

He looked over at Thace, who was still holding the remote, though it had been turned off. The galran looked so incredibly guilty that Keith felt a little bad. Then, he got mad at himself for feeling sympathy. _They’re all monsters, even him._ Still, that didn’t stop his mind from thinking. _What does he know?_

The binds suddenly released and Keith collapsed out of the electric coffin, his legs unable to hold the rest of his screaming body up. He laid on the cool floor for a while, letting the chill of the tile soothe his aching body. It didn’t help much, but Keith was too fatigued to do anything else. He nearly fell asleep, actually, but didn’t. All because the doors suddenly burst open and the doctor ran back into the room.

All eyes were on them now but Keith’s, it hurt even to do that little. He closed his eyes and listened to what they had to say. Only, the words they spoke were ones Keith never suspected to hear.

“There was an anomaly in the prisoner’s blood. One that shouldn’t be in a normal human.” They sputtered.

“And how does this concern me?” The leader asked.

“Not just you, but everyone. Listen, the prisoner had, along with human DNA, DNA from a galra. He’s not fully human.”

The room was silent for a moment before Ulaz spoke up and asked, “What else?”

The doctor audibly gulped. “The DNA had a match. A very specific match.”

“Who did it match up with?”

“Eris,” They blurted. “That boy has Eris’s DNA.”

Keith blacked out.

 

* * *

 

It’s been three days since Matt disappeared to the galra headquarters, and he suddenly stopped communicating.

Lance was running back to the house. He gave a quick goodbye to Coran and said that something had come up and he had to leave immediately. Coran said it was fine, as long as Lance returned home later so they could finish their very intense UNO game. He promised to be back by evening, and at that, Lance took off.

During the super intense UNO game, Lance had been telepathically communicating with Matt. It took a little longer to play at first because Lance kept getting distracted, but after a round he got used to multitasking and communicated and kicked ass like a boss. Most of the time. Lance only won a third of the games so far, but he wouldn’t admit that.

During the game Lance had asked Matt multiple questions about Keith. He said that he didn’t find him yet, but he overheard about some gifted prisoner that was in a torture room. The good news from it meant that Keith was alive. The bad news was that he probably wouldn’t be for long and might end up endangering everyone at the house. Matt assured Lance that there was a plan if anyone was to be captured that would keep them away from the house that literally every gifted with Allura knew, but Lance still felt uneasy. It’s hard not to worry when one of your friends are being tortured, but hey, at least he’s not dead. Yet.

Matt did say, though, that he’s ninety percent sure of Keith’s location. He had heard that the pyrokinetic was in a torture room on his first day in the facility, so he’s most likely back in the prison cells which, according to Pidge’s map, was on the far west wing. The cells didn’t seem to be heavily guarded at the time so he wasn’t worried about capture. Matt was almost there and was getting ready to check, promising to keep Lance updated. Suddenly, Lance heard a gasp.

 _“I see it! The cells are right here! I’m almost there, Lance, I can feel it!”_ Matt had exclaimed enthusiastically.

 _“Really?”_ Lance asked, shaking with excitement. He wasn’t paying attention to UNO, he didn’t even notice Coran had won again. He was too happy.

But, like all things, the happiness was short-lived.

 _“I’m here!”_ Matt announced, sounding as enthusiastic as Lance felt.

 _“Really? Where exactly is it located? I need to tell Allura and everyone!”_ Lance asked.

_“There’s multiple halls of cells that extend for a long time. I’m at the t-”_

Then it cut off.

Lance kept trying to get Matt’s attention. He wasn’t responding and he stopped mid-sentence. Matt never finished telling him something that would help him, help everyone, find Keith. Matt wasn’t like that.

Something was wrong.

So Lance ran faster than he ever believed was humanly possible.

He reached the house in a little more than five minutes, too pumped up on adrenaline to feel exhausted. In any normal circumstances he would’ve taken a break halfway through the trip to the house, but there was no time to stop. Lance knew he had to get there immediately, if not then as soon as possible.

Lance barged into the house, startling a few people who were sitting on the couches in the living room.

“Matt!” He screamed, drawing the attention of several others. “Something happened to Matt!” The faces of those in the room filled with anxiety, and he’s sure that anyone who heard him felt anxious as well.

“I was talking to him about Keith. He had reached the prison cell area and was about to tell me the exact hall where Keith is located when he stopped responding all of a sudden. I think… I think the galra found him.” Lance stammered, stopping every few words to breathe.

“Allura’s outside near the fountain with Shiro,” Shay said frantically. “Go now. She’ll want to be informed as soon as possible.” Lance didn’t have to be told twice. He sprinted across the house and threw open the door, calling out their names.

Allura and Shiro were sitting by the fountain, talking and smiling. Lance startled them with his cries and they stopped talking.

“Allura, I have something to tell you. It’s about Matt.” Lance said.

Allura and Shiro listened quietly as Lance explained what happened. They didn’t speak, but their expressions spoke more than words could.

“I noticed that too.” Allura whispered. “It’s been multiple hours since Matt has talked to anyone besides you. I was a little worried, but I figured he was safe. I should have talked to him. I-” Allura began to cry, tears slipping out involuntary. Shiro hugged her and rubbed her back, trying to calm her down.

“Do you think a galra found Matt and captured him?” Shiro asked, making eye contact with Lance. He nodded.

“It’s the most likely possibility.” He replied. Allura sniffled and pulled out of Shiro’s embrace, though the two still remained close.

“I believe that as well.” She agreed. “I’m positive Matt is alive, as well as Keith. Lance, do you still have the rune Matt gave you?”

Lance looked at his hand. The markings were still there from earlier, though they had faded. “A little faded, but they’re there.” He answered. Allura emitted a sigh of relief.

“If Matt was… no longer with us, the runes would disappear immediately.” Allura explained. “He’s alive, and we’re all going to believe Keith is, too.” She turned towards the house and began to walk to it. Some had clustered around the entrance, but they all moved out of the way when Allura treaded towards it. Lance and Shiro jogged to catch up, following right behind her into the house.

Allura didn’t have to call everyone down, nervous chatter filled the room. Upon noticing her appearance, everyone fell silent, listening to what she had to say.

“Lance was communicating with Matt when he suddenly stopped. We believe him to have been knocked out and captured by the galra.” Allura began.

“Is he dead?” Someone called out.

“If he were, all the runes would have vanished immediately. They’re still there.” She answered. About half of the room subconsciously glanced down at their hands to confirm what she said.

“The people I listed before Matt left are the ones going to the galra headquarters. Lance, Shiro, Hunk, Nyma, and Shay will leave immediately.” Allura announced.

“Wait,” Lance interrupted. “I can’t leave. I’m not nearly ready.”

“I believe you’re ready.” Shiro told him. “The way you handled the galra was astounding.”

“I haven’t had nearly enough training.”

“I agree with Lance.” Shay chimed in. “Is it okay if you wait a day or two? I don’t want him to feel unprepared going on such a big mission.”

“I don’t want us to be too late.” Allura objected.

“I know, princess, but it can’t hurt to wait. They’ll probably try to get information from him first. We’ll be able to prepare Lance at least a little more before we’ll be able to leave. Besides, we might find more information in the coming day that can help us. Maybe Matt will-”

“Okay, we’ll wait.” Allura sighed. Lance could hear her voice about to break, but she kept strong. “But if the runes disappear, they have to leave immediately. No objections to that. I’ll tell the search party members about more details later. I… I need some time right now, spare me.”

“I’ll come with you, if you don’t mind.” Shiro whispered. Allura nodded.

“I’m fine with that.” Lance said. “I promised Coran I’d come back this evening, anyways. I can’t scare him by running away without telling him.”

“Are you going to go back now?” Hunk asked. Lance shook his head.

“I’m, um, gonna go to the infirmary. I know they can’t hear me, but… I need to tell Pidge.” He stuttered. “I want to go alone, but if anyone else wants to come, I won’t reject you.”

With that, Lance took off running to the infirmary. It was too much, thinking about what might have happened to Matt and Keith. It hurt. For some reason, Lance felt like the right thing to do was rant to Pidge. Maybe it would make him feel better.

When Lance got into the room, he noted that Sawyer wasn’t in there. They were probably still in the living room, talking about what happened to Matt. Lance was thankful for that. He loved everyone at the house, but at that moment he wanted to be alone.

Lance pulled up a chair and sat next to Pidge. “Hey there,” He whispered. “I have some news. You probably don’t want to hear it, but I think you need to. I know you do.” He took in a deep breath before continuing.

“I was talking to Matt earlier. He left to go find Keith. He was captured by a galran, remember? Or were you unconscious before it happened?” He sniffed and wiped his nose. “Anyways, Keith sacrificed himself for me. I was supposed to be captured, but Keith took my place at the last moment. I’m grateful but worried. I don’t want him to be hurt.

“Matt told me through telepathy that he overheard some galra talking about a gifted prisoner who was being tortured. That was two days ago, though, so we think he’s-” He was going to say _safe_ , but that wasn’t the right term. Anyone who was kidnapped by their worst enemy is not _safe_.

“We think he’s alive. We hope he is. Matt is, too. He’s been gone for three days. He was almost to Keith’s cell and was near the prison hall where he was almost positive Keith was being held. He was getting ready to tell me the name, but-” Lance felt tears slip down his face. He wanted to wipe them but had no motivation. They would just come back again, so what’s the point? Honestly, the only thing he was motivated to do was save both Keith and Matt from the evil clutches of the galra.

“The communication suddenly cut off. No, he’s not dead, I-” Lance checked his hand once again. “I still have the rune. Apparently it would have vanished if he… left. It’s still there, so he was probably just knocked out. Maybe beaten up…” Lance leaned over and ran his fingers through Pidge’s hair; he was a sobbing mess now.

“No. He’s okay. He’s going to be okay. So is Keith. I’m going with Shiro, Nyma, Shay, and Hunk. We’re going to leave soon, just not now. I’m not ready.” He leaned over to Pidge’s ear and whispered these next words, even though he was aware of the fact that no one else was in the room with him but Pidge. “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready. Everyone else has had years of experience, I’ve only had days. I don’t want to disappoint anyone else.”

Lance wiped his eyes, which had begun to sting. “Of course, I can’t really complain. You’re hurt really badly. The healers are trying their best, but you still aren’t awake yet. Only your minor breaks have been healed.” He glanced down Pidge’s body, looking at all of the casts plastered on their small frame.

“At least you can’t feel the pain. Then again, you will feel the effects when you wake up. I’m hurting just by looking at you. I feel responsible for all of this, you know. If it weren’t for me, you never would have gotten in such a critical condition. No one has any idea how Matt and Keith are because… because of me.” He broke down sobbing, punching the wall with a clenched fist.

“I’m dangerous, Pidge!” He shouted. “I shouldn’t be here! I’ve practically killed you, your brother, and Keith, and I don’t want to kill anyone else! I should have died in that forest. I’m not supposed to be here. I’ll just endanger everyone on the mission.” Lance sniffed and stopped stroking their hair. He buried his head in his hands, listening to the echo of his cries reverberate around the room.

“I’m a failure, Pidge.” He cried, his voice hitching. “I can’t be here anymore. I know Keith told me to find him but I can’t. I just can’t. I’ll get him killed. I’ll get everyone killed. He might already be dead.”

 _He is dead._ The voice of one of the shadows said. _The second he met you, you doomed him to die. An eye for an eye, yeah? You made him lose his precious life, so take your shitty one for him. It’s for the best. You can’t hurt anyone else if you’re dead._

Lance knew he was hallucinating. He knew he was going to go into a trance and become a slave to whatever he hears. If the voices tell him to die, he’d do it. He wanted to fight the voices, but he knew there’s no point. Lance always lost to everything in the end.

He stood up, cries completely ceasing. “It’s for the best.” He repeated, whispering. Everything he’d ever been through and nothing ran through his mind all at once. It was too much, so Lance gave up and became like a puppet.

He saw the shadows lurking in every corner of the room. They were even near Pidge, taunting him. _There’s no point,_ Lance thought. _I never have been able to fight them. I never will. Nothing can break me out of this trance._

He slowly made his way over to a table with multiple medical tools placed neatly on it. A sharp tool caught his attention. Lance knew the name but couldn’t remember it. It’s not like it mattered, anyways. He was being controlled. Nothing could stop him. He was going to die. Lance picked up the sharp object, twisting it around to observe it. After one of the shadows promised him it would do the job, Lance lifted it up to his neck, aligning it with his Carotid arteries. Pulling it back, he was ready to stab himself. He was ready to die.

But a weak, broken voice not of the shadows stopped him.

 _I found Keith._ Matt said. Lance dropped the tool in shock and it clattered to the floor. _Tell Allura OK._

_I… found… Keith._

And with those few words, Matt went silent once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you need me to change the rating to mature if it gets too violent please tell me. 
> 
> p.s. this chapter took forever to edit i hope you enjoyed it because it took a lot of work to make.


	6. Screams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "'I found Keith.' Matt found Keith. They're alive."
> 
> "Your mission needs to start as soon as possible. Be here first thing tomorrow morning."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm gonna keep this brief- i have neglected this fic because my ex was the one who inspired this story and he hurt me really bad emotionally so i couldn't being myself to work on it for a while. i'm sorry for the wait, but i hope you understand.
> 
> also, i changed the title and the rating. it is now "miss allura's home for peculiar gays" and not "allura's home for peculiar gays". the rating is now mature due to the gore in this chapter and ones following it that may be disturbing to younger people.  
> TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER  
> being pressured to commit suicide  
> neck gore

_I found Keith._

 

Lance stood frozen for many minutes after the return of Matt’s silence. He couldn’t believe it. It just wasn’t possible, Keith had to have been dead by then.

 

_But what if he isn’t?_ Lance asked himself. _All your life you’ve taught yourself to expect and think the worse because the worst outcome is the only one that will happen. Let yourself hope, Lance. Keith is okay. You can find him._

 

_He’s okay._

 

After his mental pep talk (which surprised him to say the least), Lance left the infirmary, but not before telling the good news to Pidge.

 

“They’re alive, Pidge!” He exclaimed. “Your brother, Matt! Keith! Both of them are okay!” He knew he was getting a little too optimistic, but the pep talk made him have hope. Lance knew he needed all the hope he could get, so he took it. Lance quickly ruffled Pidge’s hair and then speed-walked out of the room, making a beeline to Allura’s office he’d seen when he first arrived.

 

Lance tried to copy the knock Keith had made, but after he failed to remember past the first three knocks he gave up that approach and said, “Allura, can you open up? It’s Lance. I have news about Matt and Keith.”

 

The ymbryne had opened the door almost immediately, being as wishful as Lance was.

 

“Take a seat,” Allura instructed with her usual grace, however a little nervousness seeped into her words. Lance did as he was told, plopping down on the leather couch where he had sat the first time he was in this room as the latter shut the door. Allura quickly jogged over to her place behind the desk as sat down.

 

“What happened?” She inquired. “Did you hear anything from Matt?” Lance nodded.

 

“I was in the infirmary checking on Pidge. I was telling them about the situation, and I was honestly becoming a wreck and-” Lance shook his head to stop his blabbering.

 

“Anyways, I had pretty much finished talking to Pidge, and I was about to leave, but his voice stopped me.” _It stopped me from leaving this world._ “I couldn’t believe it. I knew I had to tell you what he said right away-”

 

“Lance, you never told me what he said.” Allura interrupted. The said boy tugged on his shirt hem in embarrassment.

 

“Right, um, I was getting ready to do that.” Lance laughed awkwardly. “Don’t wanna keep a pretty girl waiting, after all.” He winked and gave her finger guns in a poor attempt hide his embarrassment.

 

“Tell me, Lance,” She said, both pleading and demanding.

 

“ _‘I found Keith,’_ ” Lance quoted. “Matt found Keith.” He said. Hope shone on Allura’s face.

 

“He’s alive, right?” She asked.

 

“I believe so. I don’t want to think about… the other option.” Lance told her. “He never explicitly said _alive_ , though, just that he was found.”

 

Allura’s expression darkened. “Of course.” She clasped her hands together and sighed.

 

“Lance,” She spoke after a short moment of silence. “We don’t know if they’re both alive, right?”

 

“Matt’s still alive,” Lance said, trying to cheer up himself and the ymbryne. “Yeah, he sounded pretty beat up, but the rune is still on my hand!” He admitted, throwing his marked hand towards Allura and leaning forwards to show her.

 

“If he were dead, we would not see the rune, and since Matt did find Keith and is still around to say it, we’re going to assume they both are. It would make more sense to kill them both at once if that was their intention.” Lance explained. Allura’s eyes were fully focused on him, completely tuned into his words. Lance found himself slightly flustered at the amount of attention she was paying him.

 

“I, er- It’s the most favourable option, of course, and the only way to find out is to see for ourselves what the hell happened to them.” Lance finished. Allura nodded and seemed to relax a little.

 

“You’re right, Lance.” Lance smiled at her words. “It’s probably just being optimistic, but we all need to have a little faith. Without hope, the mission will fail right away. Speaking of the mission,” Allura said, her expression turning uneasy.

 

“You and the others need to go right away. The sooner you all leave, the better chance we have at saving both Matt and Keith. Assuming that they’re alive, of course. No negative thoughts allowed that could jeopardize your mission.” She said, and Lance knew she had a point.

 

“But Allura, I’m not trained well enough.” He objected. “I need more time-”

 

“We don’t have time, Lance!” Allura exclaimed, slamming her fists on the table. “Time is the one thing we will never have! Time is never on our side and it never will be! If we want to save them, we have to act now. I already lost my father to the galra because I was too afraid to quiznacking _act,_ I absolutely refuse to lose anyone else I care about to the galra and time!” Lance was shocked into silence at the sudden outburst. _She always seemed so composed,_ He thought. _There’s always something behind that. I shouldn’t be surprised._

 

A few minutes later, Allura sat down and spoke. “Don’t you understand, Lance? We don’t have a choice. This is the start of a war. Bullets don’t wait for the victim to be prepared for the impact. They fly at will. So we must, too.”

 

“I’m not at all prepared. I’ll endang-”

 

“No one is prepared, Lance!” Allura shouted. She closed her eyes and took a few breaths before continuing. “If even one of us were prepared to fight these monsters, the war would have already been finished. Every last galra would be dead. We’d be free. But we aren’t free now, and we may never be, but we need to at least act. I won’t let anyone under my protection get killed by a damn galra. They already took my father. I swear on my life they will not get any more satisfaction from killing innocents.”

 

They sat in silence once more, both wanting to speak but not knowing the right thing to say. Eventually, Lance remembered what Matt had said.

 

“Um, Matt told me to tell you _OK._ I don’t know what that means, but you do, right?” Lance asked. To his relief, Allura seemed to be a little more relieved.

 

“We’ve never had much time,” She said, smiling. “But the time we did put in paid off.” Allura looked back at Lance, smile still remnant on his face.

 

“Operation Kerberos has been told and begun. We have the advantage at the house, at least. If we get Matt and Keith, we’ll win the first battle.” She said. “I suppose you have tonight to get prepared.” At that, Lance brightened up a bit.

 

“Really?” He asked, a smile sneaking onto his face.

 

“Just be here first thing tomorrow and don’t stay up all night practicing with your weapon. Definitely make sure you don’t hurt yourself. You have a boy to get back tomorrow, after all.” Allura told her.

 

“Thank you so much, Princess.” Lance told her with a smile.

 

“You can go now.”

 

He didn’t have to be told twice.

 

After saying a quick goodbye to whoever he saw at the house on his way out the door, Lance took off. It was a little later than he had promised to be back to Coran, but he knew he would understand. After all, Coran had the Sight, too; and even before Lance knew of his abilities, he was always kind and understanding, like a long-lost uncle.

 

Lance owed a lot to Coran, he realised on the way home. The therapist has supported him through thick and thin, comforting him no matter what problem arose. Yes, that’s what therapists are supposed to do, but no one does it quite like Coran. He feels like family, not like a psychiatrist just trying to do a good job and make good money with that practiced sympathy they use with every patient to make them feel comforted. No, Coran does that and more. He shelters people. He treats them like family. He even goes so far as to spend three weeks on a random island based off of some weird dream one of his patients had and expects literally nothing in return.

 

Yeah, Coran was pretty fucking amazing, and Lance owed so much more to him than he could ever repay.

 

Lance had slowed down to a casual walk by the time he left the forest. He strolled along the sidewalk, humming a random Studio Killers song to himself as he moved. He was pretty content at that moment, not completely happy but not depressed either, a perfect balance that feels like nothing yet everything at the same time. Lance knew of the troubles ahead. Lance knew he’d probably die trying to rescue Keith. Though, in that moment, he didn’t care. It didn’t matter to him. He just wanted time to travel as slow as it could on his way to his doom and the hotel to finish his UNO game with Coran. Keith could wait.

 

Unless, that is, if Lance sees Keith right in front of him, leaned up against a building.

 

Lance froze in his tracks. _This can’t be real._ He thought. _Keith is in the galra headquarters. He’s supposed to be dead. He’s not supposed to be here._

 

Yet there he was, staring right at him. Keith’s eyes were dark and wide open, staring right into Lance’s soul. Deep down Lance knew something was wrong. Keith doesn’t look that… whatever. Lance’s shock and happiness pushed the thought as far down as it possibly could.

 

“Keith?” He whispered, eyes widening. “Is that really you?” The latter shrugged.

 

“I’m not Pidge, so probably.” Keith stood up straight and took slow steps towards Lance. _Those eyes are creepy._ He thought, gulping.

 

“So, Keith, how did you escape?” The said male narrowed his eyes.

 

“Does it matter? I’m here now.” Keith walked even closer, stopping right in front of Lance. He put his pale fingers up to his tan cheek, dragging them across his face slowly.

 

“I’ll never leave you.” Keith whispered, smirking in a way that gave Lance the chills. That and how cold, un-lifelike his fingers were.

 

“Keith, what happened to you?” Lance muttered, staring at the digits which were now stroking his jaw.

 

“Nothing,” He mused. “At least, nothing of your concern.”

 

“There’s a search party team coming from the house.” Lance told him. “They’re going to leave tomorrow. I’m coming with them.”

 

“There’s no point.” Keith replied, harshly grabbing Lance’s chin and pulling it close to his face to the point where their noses were almost touching. If Keith didn’t feel like a demon and wasn’t being a bitch at the moment maybe Lance would’ve blushed; Keith is fairly attractive, after all. “All of you at the house are weak and pathetic. Especially you, Lance. You allowed me to jump in front of you. You allowed me to get tortured. You allowed me to get killed.”

 

“Killed? But you’re right-”

 

“I’m a ghost, Lance!” Keith shouted. “I’m a ghost here to tell you what a shitty person you are. You didn’t even have the guts to keep Pidge from being hurt, or stopping Shiro from suffering even more than he already is. You couldn’t even prevent me from taking your place.”

 

Keith let go of his chin and pushed him back. “You’re so weak, Lance! You’re a mistake! Nobody loves you! No one ever will!” Lance stared, unable to move. His eyes were starting to water, his nose starting to itch.

 

“You couldn’t stop me from dying. You couldn’t stop Pidge from going into a coma with hardly a chance of surviving without any long-term effects. You couldn’t stop your moms from abandoning you. You couldn’t stop your family from hating you. You couldn’t stop them from dying!” Keith snapped. Lance fell onto his knees, sobbing. “You can’t do simple things. You can’t even kill yourself. You had the chance to, you’re just too fucking weak to do anything.”

 

“Keith,” He croaked, falling onto his back. The said boy squatted down and glared.

 

“There’s a knife back where I was standing earlier. Do everyone you know a favour and use it.” Keith snarled. Lance nodded and crawled slowly over to the wall, tears flowing undisturbed.

 

_He’s right,_ Lance thought as he dragged himself towards the knife. The silver shone with the setting sunlight. _I hurt everyone. My friends, my family, and Keith. I’m just a burden._

 

Lance continued crawling and crying on his long trip to the wall that seemed to drag on for ages. He eventually reached the wall and grabbed the knife, staring at it uneasily.

 

“Come on,” Keith challenged, staring over him. “Align it with your vitals. Slit your wrists open. Cut off your head. It doesn’t matter, just do it.” Lance nodded, shakily bringing up the knife to his left wrist.

 

“Hurry up,” Keith demanded. “or I’ll do it myself. I’ll give you the punishment you deserve.”

 

That’s when something in Lance’s brain clicked. He stopped moving the knife, instead resting it on his thigh.

 

“You aren’t Keith.” Lance said, looking him in the eye. “I never told you about Pidge.”

 

“I was in the room with you-”

 

“I never told you about my family.” Lance said. “You aren’t real. You aren’t a ghost, either. You’re nothing like Keith.” He stood up slowly, picking up the knife and aiming it at ‘Keith’.

 

“You’re just another stupid hallucination.”

 

Lance threw the knife. It flew straight through the appearance of Keith, clattering to the ground behind him.

 

“I’m a ghost. Things can’t hurt me.” It tried to reason, but Lance didn’t buy it. He shook his head.

 

“That’s a lie. You aren’t real.” Lance said, locking eyes with the figure in front of him. The image of Keith dissipated, leaving the remnant of a shadowy form. It hissed at him before it disappeared, leaving Lance alone with his thoughts once again.

 

* * *

 

 

“Coran!” Lance called out, shutting the door to the hotel room behind him. “I’m back!” The said man came out of his bedroom with a smile on his face.

 

“Pleased to see you again, Lance.” Coran said, jogging over and giving him a hug. “Now, how about we finish that UNO game?”

 

Lance won the next two rounds, calling it a night when they were finished. Coran got up and walked towards the kitchen, pulling out several ingredients. Lance followed him, taking out pot and saucepan at his request.

 

“How much spaghetti do you usually eat, lad?” Coran asked.

 

“About a quarter of the box.” He replied as he filled up the pot with water. He set down the pot on the stove, Coran humming as he turned on the burner and put the noodles in the pot. Lance fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, wanting to tell Coran about the mission but his anxiety holding him back.

 

“Lance? Lance, are you okay?”

 

“Hm?” The said teen snapped his head up. “Oh, uh, yeah, I was just thinking. What were you saying?”

 

“Can you go ahead and set the table? I bought a few plates from the store while you were gone.” Coran asked.

 

“Yeah, of course.” Lance got the plates off of where they were sitting on the countertop and placed them beside each other on the table. He did the same with the forks and napkins. About fifteen minutes later, the food was ready, and they were sitting down at the table eating together. They ate in silence for several minutes, Lance racking up the courage to tell Coran about the mission the next day. It’s not like Lance didn’t want to go on the mission, he really did. He was just terrified that going would hurt and scare Coran. He didn’t want to do that, he was practically an uncle to him, but it had to be done. Otherwise the result would be a lot worse.

 

“Coran? I-I need to ask you something.” He stuttered after finishing his dinner.

 

“What is it?” The ginger man set down his fork on his now-empty plate and focused his attention on the younger boy.

 

“You remember Keith, right?” Coran nodded. “Well, we now have confirmation of where he is located. Matt, the guy who was sent out ahead of time to look for him may be in trouble. Allura wants me along with a few others back at the house to go there and rescue them tomorrow. Is it okay if I go?”

 

“Well, you have the Sight.” He replied. “It’s kind of important that you do go. Plus, you think the Galra might be even more of a threat in the future, right?”

 

“Yeah. Who knows what they can do?”

 

“Then you should go. Get some experience. You are a very important team member, after all.” Lance smiled at that.

 

“Thanks, Coran.” He said. “Also, can I go train? I haven’t gotten much experience with my weapon yet.”

 

“What kind of weapon is it?” Lance took out the coin and showed it to Coran.

 

“If it flips and lands on heads it becomes a bow and arrow. If it lands on tails it becomes a sniper rifle. I can control which side it lands on.” To demonstrate, Lance flipped it in his hands. Instantly a blue bow appeared in his hand and a matching quiver on his back, the quiver already filled. “Do you know where I can practice it?”

 

“There’s a shooting and archery range right down the road from here, I saw it coming back from the store.” Coran said. “Turn left out of the hotel parking lot and it will be on your right. I don’t know how much it will cost to rent, so I’ll give you some money.” He fished $50 out of his pocket and placed it in Lance’s jacket, the latter beaming thankfully. Lance returned the bow back to its coin state.

 

“You can stay as long as you want as long as you’re home before the twenty-second hour. It’s half past the nineteenth hour so you should get going.” Coran told him. He gave Lance a hug, to which the latter gladly returned.

 

“I wish you luck, my boy. I’ll make garlic knots while you’re practicing for when you get home. I know they’re your favourite.”

 

Lance grinned and broke apart from the hug. “Thanks so much, Coran. I mean it.” He began to walk towards the door, but was interrupted by a clinking sound. Lance turned around confused, but smiled when he saw Coran holding some car keys.

 

“I got a rental car for the time we are down here. You’re free to use it, just make sure you tell me first. I can drop you off at the house tomorrow if you’d like.” He said. Lance ran forward and squeezed his therapist, thanking him many times. Coran smiled and handed Lance the keys.

 

“You can go now,” He said. “Have fun!”

 

“Bye Coran!” He shouted, running out of the door.

 

_That went a lot better than I thought._

 

* * *

 

“Did you practice at all, Lance?” Allura asked as he came into the house. He nodded and handed her the small bag of supplies that included his weapon and food. She posted a small sticker-like patch on the bag that shimmered for a second before fading, after which she set beside the door.

“Yeah. Coran told me about a shooting and archery range by the hotel.” Lance yawned and pointed lazily behind him. “I was there for hours.”

“Well hopefully you won’t be too tired to go on the mission. I would hate to waste all your hard work.” said Allura, her eyes twinkling. How anyone could appear even slightly awake at the ass-crack of dawn was a mystery to Lance.

“Want some coffee?” Lance blinked and returned his view back to Allura, who was standing in the doorway of the kitchen. He blinked a few times and made his way over to her.

“Put as much sugar as you can before going into a diabetic coma. I’m gonna need it.” Lance said, plopping himself on the countertop. Allura nodded and pressed a button on the coffee maker.

“Don’t you have someone here that can make coffee with their powers or something?” Lance asked, kicking his legs absentmindedly.

“Gifts,” she corrected. “and no, sadly. I would kill to have someone like that. The closest we have is Keith, but all he can do is boil the water.” At the mention of Keith the room fell silent. After a few seconds of sitting in the ambience- not unsettling but not peaceful, either- the coffee pot _dinged_ and Allura went to it.

A few seconds later, Lance turned his head towards the sound of a door opening.

“Good morning, Hunk.” Allura said without looking up from the coffee she was pouring.

“Morning, Allura.” Hunk walked over to where she was standing and took a coffee cup from her. “Morning to you too, Lance.” The said boy must have made a face because Hunk busted out laughing.

“Dude, you really must not be a morning person.” He commented.

“I need my beauty sleep! Of course I hate waking up early!” Lance complained. Allura handed him his cup, the coffee a creamy light brown. Lance took a giant swig before continuing.

“Well, considering this might be an overnight mission, you might only be getting one hour of sleep at the most.” Allura commented. “We need to get Keith back. I trust that won’t be a problem?” She arched her eyebrow and took a sip, never breaking eye contact with him.

“No, no, of course not.” Lance replied hastily. “I want him back, too. It’s fun bickering with him, he gets cute when he’s mad.” When the realisation of what he said sunk in, a small blush appeared on his cheeks. The comment, however, didn’t seem to faze the others.

“Cute? I think you mean hot.” Hunk replied. “God, if I didn’t have Shay, I would be crushing on him myself.”

“He’s not my type, but he is quite attractive.” Allura agreed. “Must be an effect of the fire ability, I suppose.”

“W-what time is it?” Lance asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

“Well, dawn just broke, so I’m guessing a little before seven.” She answered “The others should be coming soon. They can have their last-minute coffee before they leave.”

Right on cue, the door opened. In came Shiro, Nyma, and Shay.

“Good morning, everyone!” Exclaimed Shay. She jogged towards Hunk and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“You sure seem to be excited,” her boyfriend chuckled. Shay nodded vigorously.

“I am. This is my first mission, and I’m kinda nervous, but kinda not.” She replied. _Amen to that,_ Lance thought, _except I’m only slightly excited. Everything else is fear and nerves._

“Good morning, Allura, Hunk, Lance.” Shiro said, nodding to each of them respectively like the mature adult he is. He broke off into a conversation with Allura, taking sips of his black coffee in between exchanges.

Nyma, Lance noted, looked just as exhausted as he was. Glad he found someone to relate to, he picked up a cup with equally as much sugar as his and walked over to her.

“You feel like you’re about to pass out too, huh?” Lance said, giving the cup to Nyma who grabbed it and gulped eagerly.

“Pass out? No. I feel like I’m on the verge of death itself.” She replied after finishing nearly all of her drink in three gulps. Lance laughed and had a sip of his.

“God, I hate mornings.” He commented. “The things I do for pretty boys.” Nyma smiled.

“We’ve all been there, man.” She patted his shoulder jokingly. “You know Rolo, right? Me and him tried to have a thing a few years back, but it didn’t work out. Nevertheless, we tried to plan the whole thing out during a mission. It was horrible.” Nyma giggles and took another gulp of her coffee. She looked into her cup and frowned.

“Dammit,” Nyma muttered. “I’ll be back in a tick. Need more drugs in my system.” Lance laughed at that and continued to drink his. Usually he’d crash if he had more than one sugar fest, but Nyma seems to take it a lot better. Pros of being a photokinetic, he guessed.

“I’m back Lance,” Nyma announced. She hopped onto the counter beside him.

“Do you know how long this damn thing will last?” Asked Lance, finishing off his coffee and looking at Nyma attentively.

“You mean the effects of the sugar or the mission?” She returned. “If you mean the sugar, then for you I’d say about one and a half days. This is some good stuff.”

“No, no- really?” Nyma nodded. “I meant the mission, though.” Lance explained.

“I’d say a little over a day, if we’re lucky.” She answered. “‘Course, that’s not taking into account whether we die, get captured, or are unable to find them. You had an idea, though, so it shouldn’t be too hard. Doubt we’ll get much sleep, though. If we manage to find an abandoned corridor we would probably take turns sleeping and keeping watch, but time may not allow for that.”

“Let’s hope that everything goes as planned as possible.” Lance said. Nyma looked as if she was about to say something, but Allura beat her to it.

“Attention everyone!” She exclaimed, clasping her hands together. All chattering in the room ceased. “It’s about time for us to go. Your bags are right beside the front door. I trust that everyone put the weightless patch on it?” Nobody said anything. Allura smiled.

“Perfect! Grab yours on the way out. You will teleport using the stones that are already on the side of the fountain. Due to our larger number we will teleport outside. Any last minute questions?” Lance had only one.

“When will the others know we left?”

“I made the announcement yesterday, but I will announce your official departure at breakfast. However, I don’t see how this concerns-”

“I was just curious. Sorry for wasting your time, Allura.” She waved her hand.

“You’re okay, now, everyone, it’s time. You know where to go.” She said. Lance followed directly behind Nyma (who had finished her second or third cup as Allura was speaking, he couldn’t tell). He grabbed his bag from where Allura had set it- the patch really did make it feel like nothing- and set outside.

Several minutes later, Lance found himself in a straight line, clutching several teleportation stones in his hand. Allura was going over the information in more detail- all the things Lance told her yesterday. He started to zone out, and Nyma seemed to notice. She leaned over to him and whispered,

“If we live through this, do you wanna go to town with me and hang out for a bit?” Lance’s eyes widened in surprise, but he replied coolly.

“I’m down for a date.” Nyma smiled at his reply and stuck out her hand. Lance got the message and shook it, the warmth still lingering when he let go.

“Looking forward to it.” She said, and Lance returned her smile.

“Everyone make sure you’re touching some part of the person next to you. This will prevent any of you from accidentally going to different regions in the headquarters.” Allura instructed. Lance grasped Nyma’s hand and she squeezed back. Hunk put his hand on Lance’s right shoulder, and he returned the gesture, still holding the stones in his right hand.

“On the count of three you are to throw the stones on the ground. You will be taken to the headquarters immediately and begin your journey. Shiro will lead you.” Allura explained. Lance chanced a glance to his left and saw that Shiro was blushing faintly. He snorted. _What a dork._

“Ready?” She asked, everyone confirming it right back to her. “One… two… three!”

There was a faint sound of thudding as the stones all hit the ground, but it was drowned out by the sudden flash of blinding light. Lance felt as weightless as his bag, and his stomach lurched like he was riding a roller coaster. Then it got very, very cold. He felt like he was about to throw up from the lack of warmth. But as soon as it came it left, and Lance found himself standing hunched over, clutching Nyma’s hand like his life depended on it.

“Don’t feel embarrassed, man,” Hunk said, breaking Lance out of his trance. “We all felt sick our first time. You get used to it after the second or third time.” Lance shook his head and tried to stand up, but collapsed instead. Nyma giggled and- along with Hunk- helped lift him up.

“Thanks,” Lance said breathlessly, still recovering from the unpleasant aftereffects of teleporting. Hunk fished something out of his bag and handed it to Lance. He examined it, noting that it looked like a cross between a tootsie roll and an airhead.

“I made this for you. Figured you’d need it, replenishes your internal health in seconds.” Hunk explained. Lance smiled and stuffed it in his mouth. It tasted like a chocolate-covered strawberry, but with a slight tinge of grape. _Weird combination, but this thing pulls it off,_ thought Lance.

“Thanks man,” he said after swallowing. Hunk grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

“We’re currently in one of the storage areas on the east side.” Shiro told the group. “It’ll be a bit of a walk, I’m guessing over two or three hours counting in any expected delays, but we should be able to reach Keith. I have specific areas marked for resting. If anyone gets injured, we go directly to the nearest one to get them patched up, even if it means backtracking. We can’t afford to lose any more people.” Lance’s stomach felt uneasy when he talked about backtracking. _I thought we were here for Keith?_ He thought. _Won’t backtracking increase the chance of him dying before we get to him?_ Despite his concerns, Lance vocalised none of them, not wanting to get in trouble for defying authority.

“Let’s get going, then. Nyma, it’s your time to shine.” Shiro instructed, looking at the said girl, who was beaming brighter than the sun.

“Watch this,” Nyma whispered smugly to Lance. And he did watch.

With a small flick of the wrist, the area around Lance seemed to shift. He found himself blinking several times before realising what was going on.

“Oh my god,” gasped Lance. He looked frantically from side to side, seeing his friends go in and out of focus. “Oh my god! You’re making them-”

“Invisible?” Nyma finished for Lance. “Not exactly, I just manipulate the light around us. It makes it harder for the galra to see us, as it requires lots of focus to notice us, and when they do we appear to be gone.” She explained.

“I guess you could say that they’re convinced it was a _trick of the light_.” Shiro joked, chuckling at his comment. Lance swore he saw Hunk give him a high-five at the terrible- beautiful, but still terrible- pun. He thought about how Keith would have reacted. _Probably with a groan and a face palm like he does to mine,_ Lance answered himself.

“Anyways,” Shiro spoke, clearing his throat and trying to sound more authoritative, though the amusement from his little joke was still evident. “We should get going now. I’ll stay in the front and lead the way with Nyma on one side and Lance on the other. Hunk and Shay, stay safely packed behind me and on constant lookout. Everyone, weapons out.”

Lance grabbed the silver coin out of his backpack’s pocket and flipped it on heads, a bow and arrow appearing magically in his hand. Shiro held a long, metallic black sword. Hunk had a yellow long-distance rifle and Shay had a whip laced with thorns (most of which were probably poisonous, Lance thought). Nyma, like himself, had two weapons- all jet black pistols except for a glowing blue rune on each one. Unlike Lance, she had both of hers at the same time.

Nyma seemed to notice him staring at the guns. “The rune makes the gun silent. There’s also tiny ones on every bullet that makes them unable to ricochet my direction.” She explained. “I’m guessing yours is that coin Hunk stayed up three nights trying to perfect?”

“Yeah, it is- _three nights?_ ” Lance didn’t expect the last part to be said. “I thought he worked a lot faster than that.” This time, it was Hunk who replied.

“It was probably the most difficult of my works. Couldn’t master the change right. Take care of it for me, okay?” Lance smiled at his words.

“Of course I will, big guy.” He promised. Shiro announced for the team to get in formation. The trio got silent and went in their assigned places by Shiro.

“Everyone ready?” The Japanese man asked, to which everyone replied with a quick yes.

“Three… two… one…”

Shiro pushed open the door and the group hurried out. Lance felt uneasy at first, but saw no galra anywhere near them. _They most likely have patrolling shifts,_ he reasoned. Shiro began moving left down the hallway, the other five following shortly after. His prosthetic arm matched with the whole aesthetic of the galra headquarters, Lance noticed. _That’s an interesting coincidence,_ he thought. _It’s almost like it was made here._

After paying closer attention to the map itself rather than the holder’s hand, Lance saw that the positions were actually moving.

“Is that us?” He asked, pointing to the gradually moving dot towards the west. Shiro nodded.

“It’s enchanted to show us where we are at all times. It’s only good for me, though. The sensors in my arm connect to those in the map. Hunk designed it.” He answered. Lance grinned.

“So, in other words, it’s like the Marauders map, only less useful and non-magical.” The Cuban boy deducted, turning his head back and finger-gunning at Hunk. “Nice thinking, bro.” Hunk smiled at the compliment.

“Yeah, it practically is.” Shiro agreed. They reached the end of the hallway and turned right.

“There should be a patrol coming in about three minutes. We’ll go in the closest storage space which will be about 500 feet on the right until they pass.” He explained. Just as he said, they reached a door a few short moments after. Lance felt eerily relaxed.

Shiro pushed open the door and led them into the room. It was pitch black inside. Nyma immediately activated her light abilities- which she hadn’t been using too much of yet- and illuminated the whole room. There were guns all over the cluttered walls- long, metallic guns- and several full-body armour suits.

“Nyma, Make the area around the door pitch black. I don’t want any galra coming in here.” Shay said, her voice shaky. The other girl nodded and the entire area around the door went one hundred percent dark, the rest of the small room just as bright as before.

Nobody spoke or touched any of the equipment after that. They sat in silence for a while, the footsteps eventually fading rhythmically in and out of earshot. Lance’s heart fluttered a little even at the miniscule sound of galra movement but said nothing. He figured he was probably too afraid to even if he could.

After another moment of waiting, Shiro whispered, “They’re gone.” The group slowly got up and made their way cautiously out the door, the light in the room falling back to its previous state.

“Let’s get going again.”

They continued like that for an hour, hopping from room to room on the map until the galra patrol passed. Hardly any words were spoken that weren’t directions from Shiro. Lance found amusement from watching the tiny dot on Shiro’s map move closer to their goal when he got bored of looking constantly from side to side. _I’m gonna have whiplash by the time this is over,_ he swore.

After the upteenth time of room-hopping (as Lance deemed it), they came to what looked like a very open corridor. Lance saw galra everywhere. His stomach turned.

“We’re almost there,” Shiro whispered. “This is one of the main ports, but the only one we have to pass through. Nyma’s got us covered in the invisibility department, but you still must be very quiet.” Nobody responded, but everybody was listening. “Let’s get moving.”

They crept along the wall, moving as slowly and lightly as they could. Several times they had to move out of the way to avoid a galra at Lance’s call, which didn’t make him feel any better. He couldn’t distract himself by looking at the map anymore as that, along with the rest of Shiro’s body, was only visible if he strained his eyes. He stayed on constant lookout, never dropping his focus no matter how much he wanted to. Lance felt sick.

“What was that?” One of the galra asked. Lance froze in his tracks, his heart poinding. _Did they see us?_

“I don’t believe you. Eris was dead long before she had a kid.” He inaudibly sighed of relief- the galra hadn’t been talking about them.

Then, who was he talking about?

“He won’t say his name? Hurt him more. You have my orders.” There were some other faint words Lance didn’t catch from what looked like the galran version of a walkie-talkie. “What do you mean he outsmarted- whatever, I’ll come to his cell myself. It’s number 03A47 right?” Some more illegible words resounded. “03A37. I’ll be there shortly with more guards. They will deal with- oh, there’s two now? Lovely. I’ll deal with them both myself.”

The galran walked the other way, and Lance let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding.

“You guys heard that, right?” Lance muttered under his breath. They all let out various versions of confirmation.

“Well guys, I think we hit the jackpot.”

 

* * *

 

After exiting the corridor, the team took as little time as they possibly could getting over there.

“We have to reach the cell before he does,” Shiro had said earlier, voicing everyone’s thoughts.

They sprinted from door to door, only stopping at every other one due to how they were going twice as before. Lance had asked why they weren’t going this fast in the first place, to which Shay replied,

“If we had, we would have never found out where Keith is, so I’m glad we took it slow. You know the saying, ‘Good things come to those who wait’.”

Once or twice, Shiro had miscalculated the point of the galra patrols with their new speed, leading to being squished as tight as possible against a wall and literally diving head-first into closets. Every time, Lance had the aching urge to shriek or make some other weird sound, but the knowledge about his fate if he dead was more of a gag than a rag would ever be.

After what felt like a million patrols, Shiro stopped them.

“We’re at the west side- where the cells are.” He quietly announced, indicating to a dot on the map. Lance looked and saw that the dot indeed was by the words spelling _CELLS_. “Let’s go find the boys.”

“To the mitochondria,” Lance agreed. He thought he heard Shiro sigh.

They began moving again, Lance keeping his eyes peeled for any galra. There didn’t seem to be any where they were heading, so Lance concluded they were all at Keith and Matt’s cell. _That is hardly a relief,_ he thought.

“Which one of these are supposed to be 03A37?” Shay murmured just loud enough for the group to hear her.

“Maybe it’s the third one down?” Hunk suggested. Lance saw the reason for their confusion.

There was a wide fork in the road- twelve forks, in fact, and Lance couldn’t see down any of them. There were also no indicators of which row was which. _Knowing my luck, the row numbers are completely random._

“Everyone stay together, it’s safer that way.” Shiro instructed. “We’ve all seen what happens in horror movies.” Lance nodded in agreement, forgetting that Shiro couldn’t see him.

“Wanna start on the third one from the left?” Hunk suggested. “Then go to the third one from the right if we don’t find them.”

“Let’s do just that-”

An ear-piercing scream interrupted Shiro’s agreement. Lance’s mind blanked for a moment, his body shaking.

“Change of plans. Third one from right. Run.” Shiro announced, the soft padding of feet making it known that the group had followed his orders. Apparently the boots they were wearing unamplified the sound. A wonderful invention, if you were to ask Lance.

Occasionally he’d see a flash of Shiro’s face or arm. Nyma would quickly apologise.

“It’s hard to manage this many people while running.” She explained, panting. “I’m not used to it.”

“It’s fine,” Shiro dismissed, and the group was quiet once more.

The hallway seemed to stretch on for miles. The eerie lighting made every object Lance could see look like a shadow, and the ones he could see were the closed bars of jail cells. Ever so often they would pass an occupied cell and Lance was tempted to rescue them, but he knew that deserting the mission will result in more casualties than just Matt and Keith. He wanted to ask Nyma to make the lighting a little less creepy, but Hunk had beat him to it.

“They’ll notice a change in the light. We’ll get killed.” She said, a finalty to her voice.

After a few more minutes, Lance had become to tire out. Adrenaline could only fuel you so far. Before he could ask for a break, though, he saw what they were looking for. Two galra were standing guard outside of a cell on the right.

“I see galra,” He whispered, halting his steps. Everyone else followed suit.

“Three cells down, right side.” He explained, hardly daring to breathe. Lance clenched his fist, the fingernails breaking his skin.

“Everyone, be prepared.” Shiro muttered. They slowly advanced towards the cell, Nyma’s light masking stronger than ever. Lance was close enough to hear the conversation from inside.

“-already told you, shut your mouth before I do it for you.” A galra snarled.

“I don’t think your boss would think highly of you for killing a special prisoner.” Lance’s heart fluttered at the sound of the familiar remark. _Keith._

“Did you hear that?” Shay whispered. No one said anything back, though there was no need.

“I was never told I couldn’t hurt you-”

“Please,” Lance could almost hear Keith rolling his eyes. “You saw how well that worked.”

“Ke- _friend,_ I don’t think it’s a good idea to challenge them.” Matt warned. Lance couldn’t help but sigh in relief. _They’re alive._

“On the count of three,” Shiro muttered, “I want you to kill those guards as silent as possible.” Lance pulled a bow out of his quiver and held it, preparing to wield it like a knife.

“One…

“Two…

“Three.”

Lance shot forward, shoving his arrow into the closest galran’s neck. At the same time, Shay had knocked it out with a rock she had made with her Gift. Hunk and Shiro took care of the other one, Nyma stopping the bodies from thumping on the ground.

“We need to attack as soon as we can.” Shiro said. “Preferably before the other galrans get here.”

“Right now?” Lance asked.

“Right now.” He confirmed.

Shiro bent open the metal bars and the group flooded into the cell. He stabbed the metal sword into the side of the galra that had been lecturing Keith. The galra screeched and fell onto the floor, black blood flowing out like a river.

“What the hell is happening?” The second galra exclaimed. Nyma didn’t give him an answer, only bullets to the head- an action Lance only saw because she removed their disguise. He fell to the ground with a loud groan.

“Shiro!” Keith shouted, limping up to meet him. “You came!”

“Of course I did,” the older man replied smiling. “I wouldn’t just-”

“LOOK OUT!”

A loud _boom_ sounded, and Lance felt a bullet soar past his ear.

“Fuck!” He shouted, pulling a bow out of the quiver and shooting it at the galra behind him with lightning speed. The arrow cracked through its helmet, leaving the face exposed. A gunshot exploded behind him, the galra Lance had hit crumpled to the floor.

“How many are there?” Lance asked, rapidly turning his bow into a gun and shooting it at several other galra.

“Over one hundred, I expect.” Keith commented, not moving from his feet. “They were bragging about how their army can wipe all of us Gifteds out in a tick.”

Lance riddled another two galra with bullets, the others all slashing at whoever came in. “Aren’t you gonna help?”

“I’m bound by anti-gift chains, dumbass.” Keith scowled. “I can’t help until you free me, which isn’t a good idea right now because someone has a knife to your throat.”

Lance focused back on his opponents and kicked them backwards, their knife making a small cut on his jawbone. He shot them three times in the chest.

“Keep holding them off! We’ll try to get out of here before reinforcements can arrive!” Shiro shouted. Several more galra flooded into the cell, preventing Lance from talking anymore with Keith.

“We’re getting cornered,” Lance muttered. “Shiro!”

“What?”

“I think-” he paused to hit a galra under the chin with the bottom of his gun and shoot them, “we should try to get out of this cell so we aren’t cornered!”

“Then they’ll be able to get us from either side!” Shay objected.

“Bad idea, Lance. We’ll stay in here.” Shiro scowled. Lance didn’t say anything back, only swallowed his- nerves? Sadness? Whatever it was, Lance returned his focus back to the battle.

Lance had knocked out and killed maybe five galra before he was interrupted by a booming “CEASE FIRE!”

The large galra from before strutted into the room, followed by a shorter woman in a cloak. Lance tried to pull the trigger to kill them and escape, but he couldn’t even lift his fingers, let alone run away.

“I take it you are the Gifted friends of our prisoners?” He asked, though none Lance’s group could say anything. “They’re not gifted anymore, too bad for you. Those cuffs weakened their power, another tick or two and they’ll completely lose it.”

The galran walked towards Lance, smirking when he got to him. A shiver went down his spine at seeing the face so up close.

“Ah, yes, the Sight boy we were looking for. Don’t know if you’ll be much use to your housemates, though, with Hothead over there.” He gestured back towards Keith.

_What do you mean?_ Lance thought, though he couldn’t vocalise it no matter how much he wanted to.

“I’ll give you a choice, Sight boy.” He said. “Either you give yourself up right here, right now and save your friends, or continue fighting. Personally, I’d pick sacrifice, because fighting is suicide, but I love my bloodshed.”

The hooded figure behind him muttered something to him. He nodded.

“Right, you need to speak.” Then, as if a balloon had been yanked out of his throat, Lance felt himself regain the ability to talk.

“I want-” He began, but gagged before he could continue.

“One word, either surrender or fight.” The galran instructed.

“Fight,” Lance gasped. He felt the stares of the others on him, probably thinking he’s stupid, but this was their only way to have a chance.

“Dumb decision, but since that’s what you chose, we will begin. Oh, before that, did I mention you will be fighting me one-on-one?”

“Wha-”

The galran had his sword out before Lance could even finish saying a word. He just narrowly missed a slash from the galran’s sword, ducking out of the way and drawing his gun just in time. Lance fired at him, but a swift move of the sword sent it ricocheting back towards him, settling with a _pang_ in the back of a galra soldier. Lance felt a stray bullet graze his shoulder and screamed, nearly dropping his weapon. The galran he was fighting seized the opportunity to disarm Lance, the gun going flying towards the fighting. It had returned to coin form somewhere along the way, which meant it could be anywhere. Lance knew that it would return to him in a minute, which meant he would have to stall for time. Remembering the bag on his back, he formed a quick, probaby suicidal plan.

Right as the galra stabbed at him, Lance rolled out of the way and under his legs. He knocked over another soldier, who was attempting to shoot at Hunk, and stomped hard on its head. Lance couldn’t tell if there was a crack or not, but there was no time to pay attention. He grabbed the soldier’s gun and fired blindly in the direction of his opponent.

“Shiro!” Lance called out. “I need your sword!”

“I’ll be-”

“Trust me! I’ll give you the gun!” Before Shiro could react to his words, he smacked his opponent with the gun on his nose, causing him to fall back. Lance dove towards Shiro and threw the weapon at him. He saw Shiro morph his sword back into his regular form and slid it across the floor. Lance picked it up and took in a deep breath.

“This is either going to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done or the most memorable,”He grumbled to himself. Lance slid the sword into the bag on his back, (hopefully) out of the galran’s line of sight. The coin had returned to his pocket a few seconds ago, and Lance only had a split second to whip it out and change it into a bow before his opponent was onto him again.

Lance jumped over the galran’s sword as it came slashing towards his feet, pulling an arrow out of the quiver and into the bow in the process. He released as his opponent ran charged towards him, aiming for his neck. Lance missed by a bit, only sinking into his shoulder, but it was a distraction. Simple, but he wasn’t finished.

Lance avoided another hit and shot another arrow. This time, it went into the galran’s good arm, sinking in. He didn’t howl in pain like Lance wanted, but the contact did make him fumble the sword.

Lance shot another arrow at him blindly. It sunk into his leg and he stumbled but continued the charge. Lance changed his bow back into a gun, firing rapidly at his arm and chest. He faked shaking, making a satisfied grin form on the galran’s worn face.

He easily disarmed Lance, sending the gun flying once again.

“You must be very untalented,” The galran sneered. “I’ve disarmed you twice already.”

Lance said nothing, only rolling between his legs once again. This time, the galran was ready. Although he couldn’t get a good angle, he still slashed his sword at Lance as he moved. The blade caught part of his thigh and made a long cut. Lance screeched as the wound pounded, blood soaking through his pants. _Ignore it,_ he told himself. _Stick to the plan._

Lance whipped the sword out of his bag and wielded it. He didn’t have Shiro’s ability to manipulate the metal or strength, but he did have pole vaulting skills from a phase he went through a year or two ago.

The galran’s back was turned to him, probably not seeing him as threatening as he dealt with his own arm wound.

“This is it,” Lance muttered, backing up a bit. There wasn’t as much room as he would have liked, but it was still enough. The others had driven out the other galra and now the battle lines began closer to the door, kudos to them. Lance took a deep breath and charged towards him at full speed.

He threw the sword down, using the momentum to throw himself up and onto the galran’s back. Lance wrapped his arms around his throat and squeezed as hard as he could, using one leg to wrap himself around and the other to send the sword flying in the other direction.

The galran gave a grunt of surprise, trying to maneuver his arms to pluck Lance off. He, however, kicked whatever limb came near him. The armour was too heavy to lift his arms up as much as the galran needed to. Lance saw what he was looking for- a small gap in between the cuff of his metal armour and the skin of his neck. Without a moment’s hesitation, Lance did what he had planned to do.

He put his head up to the neck and bit down as hard as he could.

The galran screamed, but Lance didn’t move. He only bit down harder. Foul liquid that was probably the galran equivalent of blood bursted out, catching in Lance’s mouth. He grimaced at the disgusting taste but kept biting, adding several kicks to the galran’s arms and legs for fun. After a moment of being latched on like a leech, Lance let go, using his opponent’s back as a platform for jumping off. The galran fell forward as Lance jumped down, still screaming, although it seemed to have died down.

Lance took the coin out of his pocket and transformed it into a gun. He stomped dramatically back over to wear his opponent lay face-down on the floor. Lance ripped off his helmet, cocked the gun, and put it to his head.

“I hope your whole posse finds out you just got killed by a teenager that has only been training for one day,” Lance scowled into his ear. “I would stay to see the looks on their faces, but if I stay in this place any longer the stench will kill me.”

_Boom._

Lance loomed over the body for a moment in shock, excitement, and disbelief. _Holy shit, I really just did that._

“What the fuck was that?” Keith exclaimed, bringing Lance out of his thoughts. “You were stuck on him like a tick! You literally busted open his artery with your _teeth_! And since when did you know how to pole vault?”

Lance was too shocked at his own actions to answer all of his questions. “I… um… took lessons.” He replied after a minute, staring at the ground.

“Just come here, you big loser.”

Lance limped towards Keith, who was now standing with no chains. Keith’s face was flushed and blood spotted his clothes- either from stray bullets or torture, he didn’t know. He was smiling, too, an action Lance didn’t know Keith was capable of.

“Er, thanks for saving my life, Lance.” He muttered awkwardly. “I figured some of you would, but you-”

“I don’t know what I was doing.” Lance admitted, cutting Keith off. “I just got into a trance and did _that_.”

Keith snorted. “I wouldn’t have the guts to do it. You were absolutely berserk.”

Lance dramatically slapped his hand to his chest in faux surprise. “The great Keith? Admitting he’s wrong? It’s a-”

“It’s more likely than you think.” He deadpanned. A moment later, the two of them busted out laughing.

“Dude, come here.” Lance said as he laughed.

“What am I-”

Lance pulled Keith into a hug.

The shorter of the two gasped at first, settling awkwardly against Lance’s chest. A minute later, though, Keith reciprocated, wrapping his arms around Lance’s back. The two remained like that for a moment, before Lance made a comment about how weird the long contact was. Keith agreed and the two pulled away, though remained relatively close.

“Lance!” A voice shouted, turning his focus away from the man standing opposite to him. He hardly had time to get a word out before the group tackled him into a hug that even Shiro was involved in.

“We won!” Hunk exclaimed, squeezing him tighter. “We defeated most of the other galra and the rest were forced by law to retreat because their leader died!”

“Did I really kill him?” Lance asked, exasperated.

“You bit the crap out of him,” Keith pointed out.

“And shot him in the head.” Nyma added.

“You did an amazing job, Lance.” Shiro said, and the Cuban could hear the smile in his voice.

“Thank you, Shiro,” He replied, beaming at the praise. The group pulled off of him.

“It wasn’t the smartest idea, but it was very unique and effective. I myself wouldn’t have thought of it.” The Japanese man continued.

“I’m just the weirdest genius there is,” Lance bragged, flashing finger guns and a smirk. The group laughed, but Keith grumbled something about only the first part being correct. Lance chose to ignore it.

“Where’s Matt?” Shay asked. Lance had been wondering that too, but he had been only a little bit too preoccupied.

Keith pointed behind him. “Knocked out, got hit by a stray bullet or two and passed out from the pain. Nothing too bad.” He explained nonchalantly.

“Only a stray bullet? That’s an easy fix.” Shiro said. “Why did the messages stop coming, though?”

“They captured him, did a few torture methods. Only got about the same information out of him that they got from me. After he wasn’t useful anymore they just threw him in a cell with me, made us rest until we became more useful.”

“How do you know what he said?” Nyma questioned curiously.

Keith shrugged. “I was watching him. No big deal.”

“You might need to get your brain healed if you consider that to be ‘no big deal’.” Lance commented, making air quotations.

“You get used to things after you train for a couple decades.” Keith brushed off. “Speaking of training, can we get back now? I wanna get a good night’s rest before I can teach this guy-” he pointed at Lance- “how to effectively fight off people without sucking out all their blood.”

“I got the guy killed,” Lance objected.

“Your limbs were flailing around like wet noodles.”

“They always do that-”

“My point still stands.”

Shiro stepped between them, interrupting their friendly banter. “Stop it,” He instructed. Both boy's shut up.

“We will leave now.” Shiro proclaimed, drawing everyone’s attention. “Got everything?”

The group checked their bags, and nodded after a moment. Lance saw Shiro walk over and pick up Matt in his arms. His heart lurched when he noticed how similar the action looked to when Pidge had-

_Stop that,_ Lance thought.

“Great. Get your stones out and throw them on the count of three.” Everyone followed his instructions, Lance grabbing Keith’s left hand and Nyma’s right. He let out a big sigh of relief.

“One… two… three.”

The light swallowed them once more.

 

* * *

 

Lance, along with everyone who accompanied him on the mission, landed back in the yard. Some birds that had been drinking out of the fountain flew away, startled at their sudden appearance. It was late evening, only a sliver of the sun remained in the dark blue sky. With a sigh of relief, Lance let go of Keith and Nyma’s hand.

“Here comes Allura,” he heard Keith mutter.

Sure enough, Lance saw a faint outline of a girl with long, wavy hair come running up to them.

“You’re back!” Allura exclaimed, stopping a few feet in front of them. “You’ve been gone for over two days, so I’ve been worried-”

“Two days?” Lance shouted, accidentally interrupting Allura with his surprise. “Sorry for interrupting, Ally-”

“Please don’t call me that.”

“-but we were not gone for two days, only ten hours at the most.”

“Lance is right.” Shiro added. Lance secretly blessed him for stopping her wrath. “Time must pass differently here than there.”

“Can we go inside now?” Hunk groaned. “Two days or not, I feel tired enough to sleep for two years.” Everyone else grumbled in agreement.

“Yes,” Allura answered, “but you must get your wounds taken care of first. Especially-”

“Matt’s okay, he just got knocked out.” Shiro assured her. With a quick nod of understanding, Allura about-faced and made her way back to the house, the rest of the group following.

She must have told the other housemates not to bother them, because although they passed several people inside that looked happy to see them, none of them said anything. The search party made a beeline to the hospital wing where several healer-like Gifteds were waiting. Lance spotted Pidge lying quietly in their same bed as before they left. Shiro gently laid Matt on the bed beside them.

Lance was becomed by one of the healers. He walked forward, catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror. There was black stuff all over the front of his face and down his shirt- Lance assumed it was galra blood. He himself had multiple woulds from where the galran he was fighting as well as other soldiers had gotten him. Nothing too bad, but still gruesome. Lance clenched his throat to stop himself from projectile vomiting from the sight.

“Any areas that hurt?” A short girl with dyed pink hair asked.

“Just wherever you see blood. The black stuff isn’t my blood, but I would still like it off.” Lance answered. She nodded and went to work, grabbing his shoulder and chanting softly. A light pink light glow shone around the area, fading along with the pain when she finished. She did the same thing with his jaw and thigh, although the latter took a minute or two longer than his shoulder to heal.

“You’ll have to clean up the blackness for yourself, that’s not my specialty.” The healer said, waving her hand. “You’re free to go or wait or whatever.”

Lance smiled and thanked her before turning around. He was mentally planning how the rest of his night would go- eat all the food from his bag (which had remained untouched), clean off the mess on his face, and take a nice, long nap. He smiled at the thought, walking out the door. Lance would have gone all the way up to his room, however, a sudden shriek stopped him.

“ _PIDGE?!_ ” Matt screamed, ceasing all the idle chatter in the room. Lance turned around just in time to see the said child stir.

They sat up silently, glancing confused from left to right. Pidge eventually settled her eyes on Matt, who had his hand over his mouth, shocked tears pouring out of his mouth.

“Pidge,” He choked out, a noise Lance wouldn’t have heard had the room not been dead silent.

“Who…” Pidge began, her voice raw from weeks of unuse.

“Who are you?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the way, the galra lance was fighting was zarkon. and yes, he is actually dead. no, the story isn't over. it's just begun.
> 
> this was my first attempt at an action scene so please bear with my amateur-ness. 
> 
> i am participating in nanowrimo with an original story of mine so i will not be working on this until december. i figured i owed you guys an update after literally 5 months. you're welcome.
> 
> ~Chiharu


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